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Four coal miners die after inhaling poisonous gas in Pakistan
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21 September 2021 Last Updated at 10:49 pm | Source: PTI Balochistan’s Mines and Minerals Chief Inspector Abdul Ghani said that bodies of the deceased, who belonged to Zhob district of the province, have been retrieved after a rescue operation. “The miners had gone into a mine in Chamalang and suffocated to death after inhaling poisonous gas," he said, adding that the incident took place in the Duki area of the province. Coal miners face hazardous working conditions in coal mines in the province and in several incidents in the past, miners have died in explosions due to leakage of methane, suffocation, burns or even in incidents of roof collapse. There have also been incidents where workers from other provinces have been killed in targeted attacks by terrorists. Pakistan''s Central Mines Labour Federation Secretary General Sultan Khan said that laws regarding safety for mine workers were not implemented in mines. He said that as many as 90 people have been killed in incidents in different mines across Balochistan this year. Six workers were found dead in March after they got trapped inside a coal mine in Bolan district when its roof collapsed. In another incident in the same month, seven miners were killed in a blast at a coal mine in Harnai which was caused by a build-up of methane gas. PTI Corr RS
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Mine Collapses
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Locust plague worsens and spreads to Chad - The New ...
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Locust plague worsens and spreads to Chad
The desert locust consumes its own weight in vegetation every day (FAO)
DAKAR
The plague of locusts sweeping south across the Sahara desert is now causing serious crop damage in Mauritania, Mali and Niger and has spread for the first time to Chad, agricultural experts and government officials said on Monday.
Over the weekend, swarms of locusts invaded eastern Mali and started devouring crops, an agricultural official in the central town of Mopti said.
"What I saw yesterday evening around 8 p.m. around Douentza on the way to Gao, was worrying : about four hectares of land was covered with locusts," Cheick Sidiya Diaby, the government's regional director of agriculture in Mopti, told IRIN by telephone.
"Until then, the swarms, which consisted of 600 000 to 700 000 insects per hectare, had mainly been eating trees and grass, but now they have started eating crops too. If nothing is done, the consequences on people and their livestock will be incalculable," he added.
Further east, in Niger, locusts invaded several arable areas in south and centre of the country at the end of last week, causing further damage to grazing land and crops, government locust control officers told the French news agency AFP.
In Mauritania, where millions of locusts descended on the capital Nouakchott last week and devoured the greenery of its trees, lawns and gardens, government officials warned that 80 percent of the country's crops could be destroyed, leaving 600 000 to 800 000 people to face famine.
More than 200 swarms of the flying insects which can eat their own weight of food in a day have so far been detected in Mauritania.
Locust swarms have meanwhile swept east into Chad, carried by winds which aid workers fear will eventually take them into the troubled Darfur region of western Sudan.
A Chadian official told IRIN that two swarms were sighted last week at Ati, 450 km east of the capital N’djamena.
“When the swarms flew over Lake Chad, they caused damage to 30 to 60 hectares of food-producing crops, mainly millet and corn”, Ndoubabe Tigaye, the director of the plant protection unit of the Ministry of Agriculture, told IRIN by telephone from N'djamena.
However, despite the intensity of the invasion, all the Sahelian countries are suffering a chronic shortage of insecticide and spraying equipment and vehicles with which to spray the locusts and prevent them from breeding.
Mali has so far raised only one third of the US$3 million requested from donors to step up locust control measures.
“To date, we have been invaded by 63 swarms, but we only have a third of the resources we need to treat the area of nearly 650,000 hectares that is currently infested”, Brahima Koni, the deputy coordinator of Mali's locust control campaign, told IRIN by telephone from Bamako.
So far, he added, Mali only has 18 spray teams deployed on the ground.
In Chad, the authorities only have four prospection teams, who have been sent out to search for locust swarms, but without the spraying equipment and pesticides necessary to kill the insects and render their eggs infertile.
“We even do not have pesticides”, Ndoubabe complained to IRIN, adding that the Chadian government was about to launch an appeal for international assistance to fight locusts.
At a two-day meeting on locust control in West Africa held in Algiers two weeks ago, Chad appealed for $7 million to treat up to 250,000 hectares. At the time, no locusts had been sighted in the country, but now they have materialised.
In Algiers, government officials from Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania, Senegal, Mali, Niger and Chad tried to coordinate their strategies. They appealed to the international community for at least $58 million to help step up locust control activities using trucks and planes equipped with insecticide spraying equipment.
The more affluent North African countries, which have had painful first-hand experience of locust plagues in recent months, also promised rapid technical assistance to their poorer southern neighbours in the form of experts, vehicles and pesticides.
On Monday for instance, Morocco sent 50,000 litres of pesticides and two spraying trucks and three crop dusting planes to Mauritania.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said aid pledged by donors at the Algiers conference was starting to trickle in.
"New contributions are coming in almost every day, but it takes time to translate donor contributions into action," Clive Elliott, an FAO locust expert told IRIN from Rome. "From the moment the funds are approved, we reckon it takes about a month to get the goods on the ground."
"There is a good chance that a lot of the crops can be protected, but if you are asking me whether it is possible to stop the locust cycle in its tracks, it is more difficult," he added.
Meanwhile, local people in the affected countries have resorted to fighting the insect invasion with their bare hands.
In Mali, villagers have formed groups of up to 50 people who gather whenever they see locusts descending on their crops, and try to chase them away with sticks.
When the insects descended on Nouakchott last week, city residents tried in vain to burn rubbish, tyres and dead leaves to create smoke that would drive them away.
In many countries, villagers simply dig holes that they hope recently hatched flightless locusts known as hoppers will fall into. They then burn or drown them.
But locust experts warned that the worst is still to come.
“In the weeks to come, there will be many more locusts than those that have arrived so far”, Annie Monnard, an FAO locust specialist told IRIN from Rome.
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Insect Disaster
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President Biden Proposes Free College Tuition And A Big Increase In The Pell Grant
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President Biden proposed a big increase in financial aid funding for college on April 28, 2021. The American Families Plan will provide free tuition at community colleges and increase the maximum Federal Pell Grant by about $1,400, but the President’s proposal does not address student loan forgiveness. The American Families Plan proposes free community college tuition, a $1,400 increase in the Pell ... [+] Grant and doubling the TEACH Grant. The specific higher education proposals are as follows: The cost of these proposals is about $300 billion over ten years. Other proposals include universal pre-school for 3 and 4-year-old children, paid family and medical leave, unemployment insurance reform and extending the child tax credit. PROMOTED The American Families Plan will cost a total $1.8 trillion over ten years, including $800 billion in tax relief for middle-class families. President Biden proposes to increase taxes on the wealthy to cover the cost of these and other proposals in the American Families Plan, including tax relief for middle-class families.
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Financial Aid
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Locusts swarm in the Pilbara and Kimberley, costing farmers
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Locusts swarm in the Pilbara and Kimberley, costing farmers thousands
Locusts swarming through Western Australia's Pilbara and Kimberley regions are costing pastoralists thousands of dollars in lost pasture and control efforts.
The warm and wet summer in the north provided a perfect breeding ground for the yellow-winged locust.
Pastoralists believed locust numbers had not been so high for decades.
Bettini Beef Pastoral Group general manager Mark Bettini said in his 30 years in the Pilbara, the worst locust plague he had seen was in 1998 at De Grey Station, 100 kilometres east of Port Hedland.
"You could not see the tin on the roof for grasshoppers," Mr Bettini said.
"Last year they were pretty bad, I'd say as bad as this year — but this year they've done more damage because we haven't had the follow-up rain.
"In some years they'll hatch out, but you'll get a big wind or a cyclone or a really big weather event which will probably kill a few and thin the numbers out a bit but that just hasn't happened this year, so they've had a good go."
Helicopter spraying, lost pasture costing thousands
The exact cost for landholders is hard to estimate, but it is likely to be in the tens of thousands.
Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume.
Watch
Locusts inundate stations in WA's north west
(ABC Rural: Michelle Stanley, Susan Standen)
"You'd have to think that (the cost) would be somewhere in that vicinity, because we did have a fair bit of grass before they came in some areas, and in some areas there's just stalks left," Mr Bettini said.
"The cows aren't going to put on the condition that they normally would have so we'll have to change our management."
Once locusts grow wings, numbers are very difficult to control.
Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development entomologist Svetlana Micic said pastoralists should assess the cost the insects were having before they considered chemical controls.
"Once the locusts are winged and flying, the only effective control mechanism is to aerially spray them," Ms Micic said.
"But when you do spray you do need to bare in mind that you can have re-invasion."
Mark Bettini, who has lived in the Pilbara for 30 years, says this year's plague is one of the worst he's seen.
(ABC Rural: Michelle Stanley)
For Mr Bettini, it was not worth the outlay.
"You could go and spend thousands of dollars a hectare trying to spray them, but are you going to make that money back? Probably not," he said.
In the meantime, Mr Bettini said he would consider ways to make money back from the locust plague.
"It's something we thought of — to grow grasshopper protein powder, with big nets to catch them. But that's blue-sky thoughts.
"I'll just stick to my cows, thanks."
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Insect Disaster
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Timeline of the 2016 Venezuelan protests
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The 2016 Venezuelan protests began in early January following controversy surrounding the 2015 Venezuelan parliamentary elections and the increasing hardships felt by Venezuelans. [1] The series of protests originally began in February 2014 when hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans protested due to high levels of criminal violence, inflation, and chronic scarcity of basic goods because of policies created the Venezuelan government[2][3][4][5][6] though the size of protests had decreased since 2014. In the first two months of 2016, over 1,000 protests and dozens of looting incidents were recorded throughout Venezuela. [1] Much of the looting occurred due to shortages in Venezuela with Venezuelans forced to stand in the sun for hours while waiting in line for scarce products. [1] By September, Venezuela saw some of its largest protests in the country's history with over one million demonstrating on 1 September 2016 and 26 October 2016. Into November, protests ceased due to the Vatican-backed dialogue between the opposition and the Bolivarian government, though the talks began to fall apart by the end of December. The protests are listed below according to the month they had happened.
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Protest_Online Condemnation
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A history of fatal Tsunamis in Hawaii
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/ Updated: Apr 21, 2021 / 07:48 PM HST HONOLULU (KHON2) — Experts say it’s only a matter of time before the next deadly tsunami hits Hawaii. One way people can prepare is by taking lessons from the past. “A tsunami can happen at any time… and as one survivor tells me, it may take some time before you see any major impacts,” said Jeanne Branch Johnston, Pacific Tsunami Museum co-founder. Jeanne Branch Johnston was only 6 years old when the 1946 tsunami hit Hilo. “That morning I woke up and I heard some horns honking. We went out to see what was going on. Well, what had happened is I was the first wave had come in and going out very quietly, and the they disrupted the Red Ants,” said Johnston: “So the red ants started biting my brothers feet, so we went into the house. And fortunately because the next wave came.” “We looked at the back window, and the wave was up to the top of the clothesline, which would be about five feet,” said Johnston. After the second wave receded, her uncle came to evacuate them to higher ground. They ran inward toward the airport as the third wave came in. “As the water came in, it came up through the rocks is so you can see, we’re walking on these lava rocks, and the water was coming up,” said Johnston. They got to safety and waited it out. However, when Jeanne finally got home that night, she saw trees and debris scattered all around her house and the town. “We could have died that day. And that if it wasn’t for those red ants and going back into the house, we conceivably could have died.” Jeanne Branch Johnston, Pacific Tsunami Museum Co-Founder While Jeanne and her brother were fortunate, others were not. 159 people throughout the state lost their lives to that tsunami. A few years later in 1960 another tsunami hit, killing 61 people in Hilo. “You should always be prepared for any hazard, but definitely a tsunami hazard, you know. And if you’re close to the coast, it doesn’t it doesn’t hurt to evacuate,” said Johnston. “It’s better to be safe than, than to lose your life.” Founders of the Pacific Tsunami Museum say that more people have died from tsunamis in the state than hurricanes, earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
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Tsunamis
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Rewind 2021: Covid, coups, Taliban...the tumultuous year that was
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From the Covid pandemic to the Taliban taking over Afghanistan and extreme weather events, 2021 is a year many of us would like to forget. The world, humanity suffered many terrible losses and went through quite a lot of...turbulence. Coronavirus: The seemingly endless loop we're stuck in In spite of the nearly eight billion vaccine shots that have been administered, over five million people died from the virus. Many poor countries still lack access to vaccines. A wide range of quarantines and lockdowns were imposed globally, especially in Australia's major cities. Slowly, the borders reopened and the Olympics took place in Tokyo a year late to empty stadiums. The world sees a resurgence of the pandemic, with some countries having to reimpose restrictions. As the clinical trials of anti-Covid drugs raise hopes of a return to normality, however, a new strain of COVID-19, the highly infectious Omicron has now emerged. There is one question on everyone's minds: will coronavirus ever go away? (Photograph:Others) Afghanistan crisis and Taliban's return to power On August 15, after US and NATO troops withdrew, the Taliban entered Kabul without meeting resistance. The group regains control after 20 years of exile under a US-led international coalition. What followed was just chaos. Thousands of people rush to Kabul's airport to flee as diplomats, foreigners, and Afghans are evacuated. Many people die in stampede-like situations, or as a result of suicide bombings. The last remaining troops withdrew on August 30, ending the longest war in American history. Since then Afghanistan has witnessed an oppresion of women, minorities and a number of diktats, all of which have driven the country backwards, undoing any progress it made under the US-led coalition. (Photograph:AFP) 2021: The year of coups Myanmar: The country's decade-long experiment with democracy ends on February 1 when the country's leader Aung San Suu Kyi is arrested in a coup. What ensued was mass protests. The violent suppression of these mass protests against the military junta has left more than 1,200 people dead and thousands arrested. According to the latest reports, Suu Kyi has been sentenced to four years in prison for inciting unrest against the military and violating COVID guidelines. Mali: Strongman Colonel Assimi Goita carries out the country's second coup in ten months on May 24. Tunisia: Taking wide-ranging powers, Tunisian President Kais Saied claims there are "imminent dangers" in a country. Guinea: On September 5, President Alpha Conde is overthrown in a military coup. Sudan: The military launched a coup. A state of emergency has been declared by Lieutenant General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, who seized control of the transitional government created after the 2018-19 revolution that ousted the autocrat Omar Hassan al-Bashir. (Photograph:Others) Extreme climate events: nature hits back? Around the world, extreme climate events abound, from catastrophic floods in Germany and Belgium to devastating and long-running wildfires in the US, Russia, Turkey, Greece, Spain, and Algeria. Western Canada experiences a "heat dome" in June that pushes temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius. At the COP26 summit in Glasgow in November, nearly 200 countries vowed to take action against global warming. Despite this, scientists say commitments do not meet what is needed to slow dangerous temperature increases. (Photograph:WION Web Team) US: The chaos at Capitol Hill In an assault that stunned the world, on January 6, thousands of supporters of Donald Trump stormed the Capitol, the seat of American democracy. This was in an attempt to block the confirmation of Joe Biden's victory in the presidential election over the property tycoon two months earlier. However, Biden is sworn as the 46th US president two weeks later, and in a show of pettiness Trump refuses to attend the inauguration, breaking a 152-year tradition. In a surprising court decision, Trump is acquitted of charges of inciting the Capitol insurrection on February 13 following a historic Senate impeachment trial. (Photograph:AFP) The poisoning and incarceration of Navalny Alexei Navalny, one of the Kremlin's most prominent critics, is arrested on his return to Moscow five months after his poisoning attack in Germany, which he blames on Vladimir Putin. The Russian government denies any involvement. The following month, Navalny was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for embezzlement charges he accuses of being politically motivated. In October, the jailed critic of the Russian president is awarded the 2021 Sakharov Prize for human rights by the European Parliament. (Photograph:AFP) The Hamas-Israel conflict Violence breaks out between Israel and the Palestinians on May 3, sparked by a Jewish settlement's years-long effort to take over homes in Sheikh Jarrah, a neighborhood in east Jerusalem. As violence spreads to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, hundreds are injured. 260 Palestinians die in the 11-day war that follows the first clashes after the Islamist movement Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, launches rockets at Israel. A soldier and thirteen Palestinians died on the Israeli side. (Photograph:AFP) Poland-Belarus migrant crisis Migrants, mostly from the Middle East, spend November camping out in freezing temperatures on Belarus's border with Poland in hopes of entering the EU. Western countries accuse Minsk of orchestrating the influx following sanctions imposed after the brutal suppression of a protest movement against "Europe's last dictator", Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, in 2020.
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Regime Change
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2008 Greek riots
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The 2008 Greek riots started on 6 December 2008, when Alexandros Grigoropoulos (Greek: Αλέξανδρος Γρηγορόπουλος), a 15-year-old Greek student, was killed by a special officer[1] in Exarcheia district of central Athens. [2] The killing of the young student by police resulted in large protests and demonstrations, which escalated to widespread rioting, with numerous rioters damaging property and engaging riot police with Molotov cocktails, stones and other objects. Demonstrations and rioting soon spread to several other cities, including Thessaloniki, the country's second-largest city. Outside Greece, solidarity demonstrations, riots and, in some cases, clashes with local police also took place in more than 70 cities around the world,[3] in Europe including Amsterdam, Barcelona, Berlin, Bordeaux, Brussels, Cologne, Copenhagen, Dublin, Frankfurt, the Hague, London, Madrid, Nicosia, Paphos, Paris, Rome and Seville[4] and globally from São Paulo,[5] San Francisco and Wellington to Buenos Aires and Siberia. [6] Newspaper Kathimerini called the rioting "the worst Greece has seen since the restoration of democracy in 1974". [7]
While the unrest was triggered by the shooting incident, commentators[8][9][10] described the reactions as expressing deeper causes as well, especially a widespread feeling of frustration in the younger generation about specific economic problems of the country (partly as a result of the global economic crisis), a rising unemployment rate among the young generation and a perception of general inefficiency and corruption in Greek state institutions. [11][12][13]
The fatal shooting that triggered the riots and protests took place in the evening of 6 December 2008, shortly after 9 pm, in the Exarcheia district of central Athens. According to press reports,[14] two Special Guards (Ειδικοί Φρουροί) (a special category of the Greek police personnel, originally meant for guard duties on public property)[15] had been engaged in a minor verbal clash with a small group of teenagers in a main street of Exarcheia, outside a shop. On driving away in their police car, they were then confronted by another small group at a nearby street crossing. The two guards were ordered by the Greek police center of operations to disengage immediately and withdraw from the confrontation site. [16] However, the two guards did not comply and were later accused of insubordination. [17] Instead, the two special guards chose to station their police vehicle outside the PASOK headquarters, left the car and went to Tzavella Street on foot, in order to confront the youngsters. Following some exchange of verbal abuse that, according to several witnesses, was initiated by the guards,[18][19] one of them, Epaminondas Korkoneas, fired his gun. The initial police's report on the incident claims that the special guard shot in response to a renewed attack by the youths, that involved throwing stones and bottles. [20][21] Eyewitnesses who spoke to Greek media, however, reported that the special guards were not attacked by the youths, nor was their physical safety put in danger at any time. Instead, the special guards approached the group and verbally assaulted them in order to provoke them. [22][23] The special guard said he fired three rounds, two warning shots in the air and a third aimed on the ground. Several eyewitnesses said they believed the policeman had directly targeted the youngsters. [24][25][26]
The victim, Alexandros – Andreas Grigoropoulos (Greek: Αλέξανδρος – Ανδρέας Γρηγορόπουλος) was a 15-year-old student, who lived in the affluent northern Athens suburb of Palaio Psychiko and attended a private school (the Moraitis School). [27] Immediately following the shooting, he was transported to the nearby Evangelismos Hospital where he was pronounced dead. [18]
A criminal investigation was initiated against the police officer who fired the shot, on a charge of murder ("intentional homicide" according to Greek law),[28] while his partner was charged as an accomplice. Both were suspended from duty and were kept in detention. The defense counsel that was initially hired resigned shortly after accepting the case, citing personal reasons. [29]
On 10 December, Alexis Kougias, counsel for the defendants, said that preliminary results of the ballistic tests apparently show that it was indeed a ricochet and that the two policemen will only appear before the public prosecutor after the forensic, toxicological, and ballistic examinations had been completed. [30][31][32] However, the results of forensic tests indicated that the bullet that killed Grigoropoulos had entered the youth's body directly. This cast doubt on claims, by the 37-year-old policeman charged with the boy's murder, that the bullet had been fired as a warning and ricocheted. [33][34][35] On the morning of 11 December, Dimitris Tsovolas, former MP and economic minister under the previous government, formed by PASOK agreed to serve as the counsel for Grigoropoulos' family. [36]
On the same day, counsel for the two policemen involved in the shooting released an explanatory statement, that described the deceased as demonstrating "deviant behaviour." According to the memorandum, Grigoropoulos was a teenager from a wealthy family, he frequented the Exarcheia district, had allegedly taken part in riotous activities that took place following the end of a basketball game two hours before he was shot, and that, in general, "the victim did not show the expected behaviour and personality of a 15-year-old adolescent. "[37] Grigoropoulos' family, friends, schoolmates and high school teachers immediately condemned those statements and declared in public that the allegations in the defendants' memorandum are "completely inaccurate" and "insulting"; the private school Grigoropoulos attended also issued a public statement that denies all the allegations. [38] Kougias' stance, as well as his comments in the explanatory memorandum, forced the Athens bar association to initiate disciplinary proceedings against him. [39]
On 15 December, Kougias appealed for the two defendants to be released from custody, on the grounds that neither of them ever had any previous criminal convictions, that their names and addresses were known, that they had considerable ties with their community, and that the charges were based on the testimony of witnesses that the defendants objected to. [40][41][42][43] Specifically, the defendants' counsel took issue with the testimony of four eyewitnesses who had testified for the public prosecutor, and appeared to refute almost all the claims made by the defendants and their counsel. [44][45][46]
On 17 December, Dimitris Tsovolas, counsel for Grigoropoulos' family, publicly requested that the defendants and defendants' counsel stop provoking the Greek people and the victim's family by making degrading comments, unsubstantiated accusations, and smearing the memory of Alexandros. [47] The ballistics report was also released on 17 December and stated that the bullet that killed Grigoropoulos had in fact ricocheted. [48] However, forensic reports conducted on 21 December concluded that the bullet was not fired in the air, but rather towards the group of teenagers, though there may have been no intention to kill the boy. [49][50]
On 11 October 2010, the Mixed Jury Court of Amfissa (consisting of 3 judges and 4 jurors) found the two special guards guilty. Epaminondas Korkoneas was found guilty of "homicide with direct intention to cause harm" and Vasilis Saraliotis was found guilty as an accomplice. Korkoneas was sentenced to lifetime and an additional 15 months of imprisonment (votes 4–3) while Saraliotis was sentenced to ten years of imprisonment (votes 6–1). [51][52][53] In July 2019, the life sentence against Korkoneas was overturned on appeal and reduced to 13 years imprisonment, and Korkoneas was subsequently released from prison. [54]
Within the hour following the shooting of Grigoropoulοs, angry demonstrators took to the streets in and around Exarcheia, and violent confrontations with the police erupted. Meanwhile, similar demonstrations were reported in other Greek cities as well, including Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Komotini, Kastoria, Patras,[55] Tripoli, Volos, Chios, Trikala, Mytilene, Agrinio, Kavala, Corfu, Piraeus, Chania, Heraklion, Rhodes, Karditsa, Lamia, Stylida, Drama, Xanthi,[56] Lagkadas,[57] Kozani, Alexandroupoli, Larisa and Corinth. After midnight, the demonstrations in Athens turned into violent rioting in some central streets of the city. By dawn on Sunday, 24 police officers had been injured, one seriously (with facial burns and his little finger mutilated) and 31 shops (particularly across Ermou Street), 9 banks, and 25 cars had been either seriously damaged, burned, or destroyed within the downtown area. [58]
By Sunday 7 December 2008 38 vehicles were damaged, 13 police officers were injured, and 22 rioters were arrested. [59]
Monday 8 December 2008 saw police assess damage as daily schedules resumed and rioting subsided. [60] However, all was not quiet, as all over Greece, several thousands of high school students walked out of their schools and marched on local police stations, throwing eggs, paint bombs, and water bottles. Protesters continued to occupy university campuses around the nation, while organizations such as the Communist Party of Greece announced plans for protests later that day. [61] The massive demonstrations of that evening were confronted by police using tear gas; during the demonstrations, some 11 public buildings around the central plaza of Athens, Syntagma Square, were set on fire. Students around Greece proceeded to occupy their school buildings, in protest, including in Serres, Imathia, Chalkidiki, Pieria, and Thessaloniki.
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Riot
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Parole board recommends release for Manson follower Leslie Van Houten for fifth time
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A California parole board again recommended Tuesday that Charles Manson follower Leslie Van Houten be released from prison. It’s the fifth time officials advocated for the release of Van Houten, 72, who is serving a life sentence for helping cult members murder Leno LaBianca and his wife, Rosemary, with forks and knives in 1969. Their prior recommendations were rejected by two governors. Van Houten was 19 when the LaBiancas were randomly slain by the Manson family, who smeared “Death to pigs” in their blood on the walls of their Los Angeles homes. The murders came a day after the cult — without Van Houten — killed pregnant actress Sharon Tate and four others. The two-person panel’s recommendation was once again headed to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk after a 120-day procedural review. The Democrat has twice vetoed Van Houten’s release, on the grounds that she “poses an unreasonable danger to society,” and his last rejection is being reviewed by two courts, her lawyer said. “I predict he will reverse this grant as well,” attorney Rich Pfeiffer said, even though he claimed commissioners had addressed the reasons for her previous rejections. Van Houten was a teenage runaway when she was introduced to Manson, who was living at an abandoned movie ranch outside LA. Manson plied his followers with psychedelic drugs and galvanized them to commit random killings to survive a supposed race war that he envisioned. Van Houten, who was the youngest member of the “family,” previously told the board she took responsibility for “Manson being able to do what he did to all of us. I allowed it. I accept responsibility that I allowed him to conduct my life in that way.” Manson died of natural causes in 2017 while serving a life sentence.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release
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1943 Workers' Summer Olympiad
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The 1943 Workers' Summer Olympiad, which were to be the seventh edition of the International Workers' Olympiads, were cancelled due to World War II. They were to have been arranged by the Finnish Workers' Sports Federation and held in Helsinki, Finland. [1][2]
Finnish Workers' Sports Federation decided to apply the 1943 Workers' Summer Olympiads in 1936, right after the Finnish Olympic Committee had lost the bidding process for the 1940 Summer Olympics. The Socialist Workers' Sport International finally awarded the games to Helsinki in 1938. A year later, the city was also nominated the host of the 1940 Olympics as Tokyo rejected the games. [3]
The main venue for both games was to be the 1938 completed Helsinki Olympic Stadium. Although the pre-war sporting life in Finland was split in two and the Finnish Workers' Sports Federation's athletes did not compete at the "bourgeoisie" Olympic Games, the federation took part at the construction project of the Olympic Stadium in addition to be the host of the Workers' Olympiads. Both games were later cancelled due to the war. Unlike the Olympic Movement, the Workers' Olympiads did not recover after the war and the future games were never held. [2]
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Sports Competition
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Skyway Enterprises Flight 7101 crash
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Crash: Skyway Enterprises SH36 at Sint Maarten on Oct 29th 2014, impacted waters shortly after takeoff
A Skyway Enterprises Shorts SD-360 on behalf of Fedex, registration N380MQ performing flight SKZ-7101 from Sint Maarten (Dutch Antilles) to San Juan (Puerto Rico) with 2 crew, was climbing out of Sint Maarten's runway 28 when the aircraft lost height and impacted waters about 2nm off the coast (end of runway) at about 18:35L (22:35Z).Rescue and Recovery services located one body, the other pilot is still missing. Coast guard believes they found the first officer's body between Mullet Bay and Cupecoy. The FAA reported N380MQ crashed after departure into the water, there were 2 persons on board, one was fatally injured, one unconfirmed fatally.Sint Maarten's Civil Aviation Authority (SMCAA) released their final report concluding the causes of the crash were:The investigation believes the PF experienced a loss of control while initiating a turn to the required departure heading after take-off. Flap retraction and its associated acceleration combined to set in motion a somatogravic illusion for the PF. The PF’s reaction to pitch down while initiating a turn most likely led to an extreme unusual attitude and the subsequent crash. PM awareness to the imminent loss of control and any attempt to intervene could not be determined. Evidence show that Crew resource management (CRM) performance was insufficient to avoid the crash.Contributing factors to the loss of control were environmental conditions including departure from an unfamiliar runway with loss of visual references (black hole), night and rain with gusting winds.The SMCAA reported that the cargo aircraft did not carry a cockpit voice or flight data recorder and was not required to carry any of them. The recorders, that were originally fitted to the aircraft, were removed during the cargo conversion.The SMCAA summarized the sequence of events: "At 1839 local, Juliana Tower cleared the aircraft for takeoff Runway 28 - maintain heading 230 until passing 4000 feet. At 1840 local, Tower observed the aircraft descending visually and the radar target and data block disappeared. There were no distress calls. Night conditions and rain prevailed at the time of the accident. Coast Guard search crews discovered aircraft debris close to the shoreline about 1 ½ hours later." Night conditions and rain prevailed at the time of the crash. The SMCAA wrote: "A handheld GPS device was later recovered from submerged wreckage. Following download, recorded data indicated the aircraft past the departure runway threshold on take-off and attained a maximum GPS altitude of 433 feet at 119 knots groundspeed at 18:39:30L. The two remaining GPS data points were over the sea and recorded decreasing altitude and increasing airspeed. "The crew consisted of a captain (49, ATPL, 5,318 hours total, 361 hours on type) and a first officer (26, CPL, 1,040 hours total, 510 hours on type), the investigation was unable to establish who was pilot flying. The weight and balance was within required limits. The SMCAA analysed the loss of control:As the factual data was assembled and analyzed, the investigation team recognized the high probability of a Loss of Control15 scenario. Data indicated a flight regime that progressed in less than 30 seconds from a normal flight path to an aircraft upset and unusual attitude resulting in a crash into the sea. The investigation sought to identify and address combinations and sequencing of LOC causal and underlying contributing factors which could be associated with this scenario. Operations at SXM throughout the year favor runway 10 over 90% of the operating hours. Night departures from runway 10 overfly an illuminated area during initial climb out. On the night of the accident, the wind was from 230 degrees, 10 knots, gusting to 20 knots and direction variable from 220 to 270 degrees. The airport was operating for take-offs on both runway 28 and 10; night landings, runway 10 only. The take-off direction on runway 28 toward the open sea on a 230 heading under the existing weather conditions, was relatively unfamiliar to the both the PF and the PM. A lack of visual references after passing over a shoreline at night is described by many pilots as a “black hole” effect. Although the possibility of thunderstorms and wind shear were forecast in the area, no severe weather was detected or reported by airport workers or search teams at the aerodrome. However, darkness, rain, and wind gusts were present during the accident scenario. These environmental conditions are cause related because they presented a loss of visual references after liftoff. The PF was required to transition from visual conditions to primary flight instrument references and to use attitude instrument flying skills. Facts indicate the aircraft was observed to take-off and attain a normal initial climb. Then a major deviation from the climb out profile occurred and the aircraft started to descend and disappeared from visual and radar view....Wreckage inspection revealed the landing gear was retracted and the flaps were most probably retracted to UP. GPS data indicated that aircraft attained a maximum height of about 400 feet and 119 knots groundspeed after becoming airborne for about 30 seconds. Considering a westerly wind of 10 knots, the accident aircraft was approaching 130 KIAS. Operations procedures in the SWE Training Manual prescribe a schedule for flap retraction; accelerating thru 120 KIAS, Flaps – 5, and accelerating thru 125 KIAS, Flaps – UP. The Training Manual also presents the PF/PNF command/response and monitoring actions to accomplish the configuration changes. The longitudinal acceleration at this point provided an apparent pitch up moment (g force). Susceptibility varies between persons and circumstances as to the magnitude of misperception. In this case, external visual cues were nonexistent. The start of a left bank combined with g effect is considered sufficient to be misinterpreted as a sensation of pitch up leading to a somatogravic illusion.Loss of situational awareness may have had an early effect on crew performance. The investigation believes the presence of an unfamiliar runway in a night and rain environment provided a basis for high stress. The obligation to comply with ATC instructions to turn left to 230 degrees after take-off, and commanded flap retraction with associated acceleration, combined to set in motion a somatogravic illusion for the PF. The PF’s unintended mishandling of the flight controls and a desire to pitch down while initiating a left turn quickly led to an extreme unusual attitude and the subsequent crash.
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Air crash
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Ho Chi Minh City ITC fire
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The Ho Chi Minh City ITC Inferno, one of the deadliest peacetime disasters in Vietnam, was a fire that occurred on 29 October 2002, at the International Trade Centre in Ho Chi Minh City, the commercial center of the country. The building was a six-story business building that housed a luxurious department store, a disco and offices of several foreign companies. [1] The fire claimed 60 lives and injured a further 100. [2]
The building was insured since 1997, Reuters news service reported, with the total value of the contract at 12.3 billion Vietnamese đồng (800,000 USD). There are reports that there were about 1500 people shopping in the building when the fire started. [citation needed]
State media said 120 people were injured in the fire which began at 1:15 p.m. local time (0615 GMT) on Tuesday. Initial reports indicated it may have been sparked by a short-circuit in the Blue Disco, one of the city's most popular dance spots, on the building's second floor. Intense heat and lingering flames prevented firefighters from entering the building for about four hours with firefighters taking more than five hours to extinguish the inferno. Bodies were still being recovered from the site late Tuesday though it is unclear whether any foreigners were among the dead or injured. It was reported that U.S. insurer American International Assurance was holding a training course for more than 100 staff at the time of the fire. There were also reports there was a wedding party in the building. On Wednesday, the building—which contains several floors of shops, around 50 offices and the disco and has a usual occupancy of about 1500 people—was barricaded with police keeping onlookers at bay. At least five fire fighting vehicles were at the site on Wednesday though none were in use, a far cry from the scene on Tuesday when 30 fire engines and 40 ambulances surrounded the building. The Vietnam People's Army reported that firefighters were not fully equipped to fight the fire and lacked water to put out the flames. Power in the area was cut off and streets cordoned off. Flames raged at other windows sending dense black smoke into the sky as workers fled for their lives, many down steel ladders reaching up from fire trucks below. Others jumped out of the windows. [1]
Two welders were later arrested. They had been working at the disco on the second floor, and it was suspected that sparks from their equipment may have started the blaze. [2] Along with their supervisor and their employer, they were charged with "violating regulations of fire prevention and combating", and received sentences of 2 to 7 years in prison. [3]
Chinese Premier Zhu Rongji: "I am shocked to learn of the big fire that occurred in Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam ... On behalf of the Chinese government and people, and in my own name, I extend my deepest sympathy and sincere condolences to you, and through you, to the bereft families. "[4]
European Union foreign policy chief Javier Solana: "Europe is shocked to hear about the inferno and whole Europe extends its deepest sympathies to the families of those, who lost their lives. "[citation needed]
Pope John Paul II sent a message expressing condolences to the families of victims of the fire in Ho Chi Minh City. [5]
U.S. President George W. Bush: "I am shocked to learn of the big fire that took the lives of so many innocent people in Ho Chi Minh City. Let us express our sympathy to the families of the victims. "[citation needed]
Pakistan Information Minister Sheikh Rashid: "We offer our heartfelt sympathies to those who suffered due to the inferno. "[citation needed]
Coordinates: 10°46′26″N 106°41′59″E / 10.77389°N 106.69972°E / 10.77389; 106.69972
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Fire
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Port of Southampton wins top prize at UK cruise industry awards
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Southampton is a regular port of call for cruise ship companies, like P&O and Cunard cruises.
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The Port of Southampton was awarded the title of the 'Best Port' in the 2021 Wave Awards. The awards celebrate the very best of the UK’s cruise industry and reward excellence and innovation both on board and ashore.
Southampton is the base for many cruise liners, including P&O Cruises, Celebrity Cruises, Cunard, Princess Cruises and Royal Caribbean. READ MORE: The P&O, Cunard and Saga Cruises ships leaving Southampton including Iona and Spirit of Adventure
It expanded its capacity for cruises with the addition of the Horizon Cruise Terminal opening earlier this year. This fifth terminal had already received over 75,000 passengers when it was officially opened in September and the port anticipates doubling its passenger numbers to four million per year over the next 30 years.
The £55m Horizon Cruise Terminal uses 2,000 roof-mounted solar panels and clean energy shore power plug-in charging for cruise ships. It claims to be the greenest port in the UK.
In a statement after receiving the award, ABP Southampton said: "We are thrilled to win Best Port at the Wave Awards tonight and are beyond proud of our teams and partners."
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Awards ceremony
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EU could rip up Brexit trade deal if UK suspends NI Protocol, Simon Coveney warns
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Brussels could rip up the post-Brexit UK-EU trade deal if Boris Johnson suspends the Northern Ireland Protocol, Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney has warned.
This would result in an effective no-deal Brexit as trade barriers would be immediately erected between the UK and the EU.
Read more
Brexit: UK to deny EU £15bn of funding if there is no Northern Ireland settlement
Coveney today said the Brexit Withdrawal agreement, which contains the Northern Ireland Protocol, and the UK-EU trade deal are contingent on each other and only work if both are fully implemented.
He claimed Johnson was rolling the green to trigger Article 16 and suspend the protocol before the end of the year, warning that the EU would respond in a “very serious way” if this happens.
Negotiations over the post-Brexit treaty continue to drag on, with the UK still threatening to trigger Article 16 and suspend the protocol if Brussels does not agree to rewrite it entirely.
Both sides now recognise that the way the deal is being implemented is causing economic and political friction in Northern Ireland.
The UK wants the vast majority of border checks on goods going from Great Britain to Northern Ireland to be removed and for the European Court of Justice (ECJ) to lose its role as overseer of the treaty.
Brussels has offered to reduce checks significantly, particularly on agricultural goods and medicines, but refuses to rewrite it or remove the ECJ from its role.
Cabinet Office minister Lord David Frost said earlier this week that the EU had “destroyed cross-community consent” in Northern Ireland with an “overly strict” implementation of the protocol. Coveney said Brussels was in “solutions mode” and could go a “little further” on reducing checks on goods crossing the Irish Sea, but warned there were limits to that flexibility.
“I believe that if the British government essentially refuses to implement the protocol, even with the extraordinary flexibilities that are now on offer, and instead looks to set it aside then I think the EU will respond in a very serious way to that,” he told RTE Radio One.
“It means that the Trade and Co-operation Agreement that was agreed between the British government and the EU was contingent on the implementation of the Withdrawal Agreement, which includes the protocol.
Read more
Brexit stalemate: Frost calls for 'intensive' talks with EU on Northern Ireland
“One is contingent on the other. So if one is being set aside, there is a danger that the other will also be set aside by the EU.”
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Tear Up Agreement
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EXCLUSIVE Amid divisions, ASEAN leaders plan Myanmar visit this week
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A bird flies near the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) secretariat building, ahead of the ASEAN leaders' meeting in Jakarta, Indonesia, April 23, 2021. REUTERS/Willy Kurniawan
JAKARTA/BANGKOK, June 1 (Reuters) - The chair and secretary-general of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) plan to travel to Myanmar this week even as the 10-nation bloc remains divided on how to respond to the military coup there, four diplomatic sources said.
ASEAN, a grouping that includes Myanmar and has a policy of non-interference in the affairs of members, has led the main diplomatic effort to resolve the violent turmoil gripping the country following the overthrow of a democratically-elected government four months ago.
The military has detained Myanmar's civilian leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, and imprisoned political opponents amid a deadly crackdown on protesters, resulting in a growing refugee crisis and the collapse of the economy.
Erywan Yusof, the second minister for foreign affairs for Brunei, ASEAN's chair this year, and the bloc's secretary-general Lim Jock Hoi, also from Brunei, are scheduled to meet this week with leaders of the junta, among other stakeholders, the sources, who asked not to be identified, said.
The sources warned that a trip could be delayed or derailed by last-minute logistical and diplomatic impediments.
It is unclear if the pair plan to meet with opponents of the junta, many of whom are imprisoned or in hiding. Spokesmen for ASEAN and the Myanmar opposition's National Unity Government did not respond to requests for comment. Brunei's ASEAN mission also did not respond to a request for comment.
The planned trip comes more than five weeks after ASEAN leaders announced a "five-point consensus" to end violence; promote dialogue; deliver aid; appoint a special envoy; and send a delegation headed by the envoy to Myanmar to meet "with all parties concerned".
However, the special envoy has yet to be appointed amid divisions within ASEAN over the best person or persons for the job, the envoy's mandate and the length of the envoy's term.
A "concept paper" released by Brunei to ASEAN members last month proposed the envoy only hold the position for the rest of the year, when it would be reviewed by the next chair of ASEAN, due to be Cambodia, said three sources familiar with its contents. They said the paper also proposed limiting the envoy's job to mediating, not basing them in Myanmar, giving them a small staff paid for by the home country of the envoy.
The conditions were seen by several ASEAN states as fatally undermining the stature and leverage of the envoy, they said.
Brunei - an oil-rich sultanate of less than 500,000 people with little diplomatic leadership experience - has not responded to the concerns, the sources added. The envoy represents the chair, so is technically appointed by Brunei, said one diplomat.
ASEAN operates on consensus decision-making, but it is a diverse grouping of democracies, an absolute monarchy, along with authoritarian and one-party communist states, and it seldom takes a strong stand on issues involving one of its own.
"ASEAN is haemorrhaging. There is a lot of intra-ASEAN diplomatic sniping. There is unhappiness all around," said one source familiar with negotiations.
"JUNTA BUY-IN"
All four diplomatic sources said Indonesia and Thailand, two of ASEAN's most important members, were at loggerheads over the envoy.
Indonesia initially favoured a single envoy to lead a task force while Thailand, whose military has close ties to neighbouring Myanmar, pushed for a "friends of the chair" body of multiple representatives, the sources said.
Spokespeople for the foreign ministries of Indonesia and Thailand declined to comment on their stance.
The compromise supported by most ASEAN states is for three envoys, likely made up of representatives from Indonesia, Thailand and Brunei, two sources said.
ASEAN foreign ministers will meet in China next week for the annual China-ASEAN summit. If their disagreement on the envoy isn't sorted out beforehand, the sources said it was hoped to be finalised on the sidelines of the summit.
China watered down a UN Security Council resolution on Myanmar but said the current political situation was “absolutely not what China wants to see”. Since the ASEAN five-point consensus was announced, Myanmar’s junta has said it will only consider the proposals - including a visit from an envoy - once it has restored stability.
The military regime's position undermined ASEAN's claim of a unified position, but also reflected diplomatic realities given Myanmar's membership of the bloc, diplomats and analysts said.
"All of this only works if there is full buy-in from the junta," said one regional diplomat.
ASEAN’s divisions also underpinned its rejection of a draft U.N resolution to impose an arms embargo on Myanmar last week, said three sources. Several ASEAN nations were comfortable with weapons freeze being included in the non-binding resolution, they said, but resistance led by Thailand and Singapore ensured ASEAN requested the clause be removed.
Singapore's foreign ministry did not respond to requests for comment.
There is also conflict among ASEAN states about when to deliver aid to Myanmar, amid fears from some that the early deployment of assistance without any commitment from Myanmar to hold dialogue with its opponents could be exploited by the junta for propaganda purposes, two of the sources said.
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Diplomatic Visit
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Blue-green algae red alert issued across NSW waterways
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Large blooms of toxic blue-green algae in the Murray-Darling Basin and Northern Rivers has prompted Water NSW to issue a red alert health warning for river users and livestock.
The green stain stretches from the Lower Murray around Wentworth all the way north of Inverell to Copeton Dam and the Pindari Dam, and also Toonumbar and Iron Pot Creek in the states Northern Rivers region. Tony Webber, Water NSW spokesman said years of drought across New South Wales and southern Queensland have left a legacy of dead vegetation that has washed into the state's river systems, and fed the algae.
Blue-green algae can be fatal for pets and wildlife and can cause stomach problems, rashes and even vomiting for people.
It could also harm the fish population at Burrinjuck Dam, which is known for its golden perch, Murray cod and rainbow trout.
Red alerts have been issued by Water NSW for several areas including the Lower Darling River, the Lake Victoria Outlet in the state's south west and Burrinjuck Dam near Yass in the Southern Tablelands.
All recreational activity should stop including; swimming, water skiing and fishing, and people should avoid getting it on their skin.
It was bad news for rural businesses reliant on tourism ahead of the Easter break.
Rebecca Day-Tomlinson works at the Reflections Holiday Park on Burrinjuck Lake and said many people have cancelled their water skiing holidays.
"It's very, very green out there, it's like slime around the edges and it's keeping people away," Ms Day-Tomlinson said.
The algal bloom has spread downstream of the Darling into the Murray. Tony Webber said red alerts were issued earlier in March for the Lower Darling, but they have since been downgraded to amber. Blue-green algae, also known as cyanobacteria, can reproduce quickly under the right conditions but the outbreak at Lake Burrinjuck was unusual, according to Tony Webber.
"It's quite a cool area, a very full dam, and Burrinjuck is still sitting at 62 per cent capacity, yet we've had red alerts issued for a number of weeks now."
Tony Webber described it as a "post-drought symptom".
"It seems the drought has killed off a lot of the ground cover and when we do get good run off, the water is pulling a good deal of organic matter and soil and this is useful nutrients for the algae."
Tony Webber said there was no question about the safety of treated town water. "Conventional treatment methods do remove algae and any risk, but boiling your billy next to any water way that is experiencing a red alert is risky," Mr Webber said.
Downstream of Burrinjuck dam the water was safe, according to Water NSW, as was the water at the Reflections Holiday Park which has been through an on-site treatment plant. The Murray-Darling Basin Authority said La Nina had failed to deliver significant rainfall to the Basin during February, as was hoped.
"The northern Basin remains drought-stricken after a summer that delivered patchy and inconsistent rain in comparison to the southern Basin," the MDBA said.
At NSW Water, Tony Webber said there was no panacea for the problem and he rejected the call for increased environmental flows. "Flow has sometimes been the villain this summer, in that it brings additional nutrients to sustain that bloom. So there really is no easy answer — it's just a mater of time and mother nature taking its course," Mr Webber said.
Rebecca Day-Tomlinson has seen the algae spread all around her region.
"All the way up to the Yass River, then the Goodradigbee and up the Murrumbidgee arm, it is absolutely green everywhere at the moment."
She was hoping for a change in the weather.
"A snap [cold] change and a lot of rain to flush it out is the only way I think that this is going to go away."
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Environment Pollution
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Brexit is official: UK farewells Europe's economy at stroke of midnight
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London: Britain’s long and sometimes acrimonious divorce from the European Union ended on Thursday, local time, with an economic split that leaves the EU smaller and the UK freer but more isolated in a turbulent world. Britain left the European bloc’s vast single market for people, goods and services at 11pm London time, midnight in Brussels, completing the biggest single economic change the country has experienced since World War II. People raise a glass and celebrate in Parliament Square as the bell known as Big Ben strikes 2300, and Britain ends its transition period and formally leaves the European Union in London. A different UK-EU trade deal will bring new restrictions and red tape, but for British Brexit supporters, it means reclaiming national independence from the EU and its web of rules. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whose support for Brexit helped push the country out of the EU, called it “an amazing moment for this country.” “We have our freedom in our hands, and it is up to us to make the most of it,” he said in a New Year’s video message. The break comes 11 months after a political Brexit that left the two sides in the limbo of a “transition period” — like a separated couple still living together, wrangling and wondering whether they can remain friends. Now the UK has finally moved out. A small group of people look across from the embankment towards the London Eye Ferris wheel by the River Thames. Credit:AP It was a day some had longed for and others dreaded since Britain voted in a 2016 referendum to leave the EU, but it turned out to be something of an anticlimax. UK lockdown measures to curb the coronavirus curtailed mass gatherings to celebrate or mourn the moment, though a handful of Brexit supporters defied the restrictions to raise a toast outside Parliament as the Big Ben bell sounded 11 times on the hour. A free trade agreement sealed on Christmas Eve after months of tense negotiations ensures that Britain and the 27-nation EU can continue to buy and sell goods without tariffs or quotas. That should help protect the £660 billion ($1.1 trillion) in annual trade between the two sides, and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that rely on it. But companies face sheaves of new costs and paperwork, including customs declarations and border checks. Traders are struggling to digest the new rules imposed by the 1200-page trade deal. The English Channel port of Dover and the Eurotunnel passenger and freight route braced for delays as the new measures were introduced, though the pandemic and a holiday weekend meant cross-Channel traffic was light, with only a trickle of trucks arriving at French border posts in Calais as 2020 ended. Victory: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson signs the UK-EU Brexit trade deal on Wednesday. The vital supply route was snarled for days after France closed its border to UK truckers for 48 hours last week in response to a fast-spreading variant of the virus identified in England. The British government insisted that “the border systems and infrastructure we need are in place, and we are ready for the UK’s new start.” But freight companies were holding their breath. Youngs Transportation in the UK suspended services to the EU until January 11 “to let things settle.” The services sector, which makes up 80 per cent of Britain’s economy, does not even know what the rules will be for business with the EU in 2021. Many of the details have yet to be hammered out. Months and years of further discussion and argument over everything from fair competition to fish quotas lie ahead as Britain and the EU settle into their new relationship as friends, neighbours and rivals. We'll be back, EU, says Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon. Hundreds of millions of individuals in Britain and the bloc also face changes to their daily lives. Britons and EU citizens have lost the automatic right to live and work in the other’s territory. From now on, they will have to follow immigration rules and obtain work visas. Tourists face new headaches including from travel insurance and pet paperwork. For some in Britain, including the prime minister, it’s a moment of pride and a chance for the UK to set new diplomatic and economic priorities. Johnson said the Britain was now “free to do trade deals around the world, and free to turbocharge our ambition to be a science superpower”. Conservative lawmaker Bill Cash, who has campaigned for Brexit for decades, said it was a “victory for democracy and sovereignty.” That’s not a view widely shared across the Channel. In the French president’s traditional New Year’s address, Emmanuel Macron expressed regret. “The United Kingdom remains our neighbour but also our friend and ally,” he said. “This choice of leaving Europe, this Brexit, was the child of European malaise and lots of lies and false promises.” The divorce could also have major constitutional repercussions for the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland, which shares a border with EU member Ireland, remains more closely tied to the bloc’s economy under the divorce terms, a status that could pull it away from the rest of the U.K. In Scotland, which voted strongly in 2016 to remain, Brexit has bolstered support for separation from the UK. The country’s pro-independence First Minister Nicola Sturgeon tweeted: “Scotland will be back soon, Europe. Keep the light on.” A man holds a sparkler in front of the London Eye, in what would normally be a ticket-only area filled to capacity waiting for the annual fireworks display in London, United Kingdom. Credit:Getty Many in Britain felt apprehension about a leap into the unknown that is taking place during a pandemic that has upended life around the world. “I feel very sad that we’re leaving,” said Jen Pearcy-Edwards, a filmmaker in London. “I think that COVID has overshadowed everything that is going on. But I think the other thing that has happened is that people feel a bigger sense of community, and I think that makes it even sadder that we’re breaking up our community a bit, by leaving our neighbours in Europe.
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Withdraw from an Organization
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Federal Government to consider tearing up extradition ties with Hong Kong amid Chinese crackdown
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The Federal Government may tear up Australia's extradition agreement with Hong Kong as Beijing's crackdown on the city intensifies.
The Chinese Government has faced a chorus of condemnation from democratic nations since passing a sweeping new security law banning "subversion", "succession" and "collusion with foreign forces" in Hong Kong.
Since then, police have charged protesters holding pro-independence flags, posters and pamphlets, sending a shudder through activist groups in the city.
Last week Canada's Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced he would suspend his country's extradition treaty with Hong Kong, making it the first country to break law enforcement links.
But more than 30 other countries and territories, including the United States, Australia and New Zealand, have extradition agreements with the once semi-autonomous city.
The ABC has been told officials have presented the Federal Government with options on how to respond to the new legal regime in Hong Kong.
One option being considered is joining Canada by suspending Australia's extradition agreement with Hong Kong.
A final decision is likely to be made at a Cabinet meeting today.
A spokesman for Attorney-General Christian Porter would not be drawn on the specific measures being contemplated by the Government, saying: "Australia constantly reviews its international arrangements to ensure they are fit for purpose, and this includes extradition arrangements."
In a statement, shadow Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus called for the Morrison Government to "urgently re-examine" Australia's extradition agreement.
The statement read: "With residents and visitors to Hong Kong now subject to extradition to mainland China for a wide variety of reasons, extradition from Australia to Hong Kong now carries the real risk of extradition to mainland China.
"This is confirmed by the recent upgraded Hong Kong travel advice from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.
"It follows that it may now be untenable for Australia to maintain a separate extradition treaty with Hong Kong and, if so, the Government should take immediate steps to withdraw from that treaty."
On Tuesday, the Federal Government issued new travel advice warning Australians might face "arbitrary detention" if they go to mainland China.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade also said Chinese Government authorities have detained foreigners because they were allegedly "endangering national security".
Cabinet is also expected to decide if Australia will provide safe haven to Hong Kong residents who fear political persecution in the city.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison flagged last week Australia was likely to offer new resettlement pathways, but at this stage it is not clear if it will do so through skilled migration visas or the humanitarian program.
International debate over Hong Kong extradition agreements has flared in the wake of the first arrests made under the new security law imposed by Beijing.
The full details of the controversial national security law thrust upon Hong Kong by Beijing have been released, and it goes much further than had previously been predicted.
An international coalition of parliamentarians pressing for nations to take a more muscular stance towards China, called the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China, has been lobbying for the treaties to be scrapped.
The group's co-chairs, including Australian parliamentarians Andrew Hastie and Kimberley Kitching, met on Saturday morning to co-ordinate their push against the agreements.
Human rights groups have also been lobbying the Federal Government to act.
The Australia director of Human Rights Watch, Elaine Pearson, says the new security law is "broad and vague" and "criminalises all sorts of acts of free expression that are lawful in most democracies".
Ms Pearson said under dual criminality provisions, Australia would not currently extradite anyone to Hong Kong if they were facing prosecution for political crimes.
"But given the myriad due process concerns and uncertainty around this law, it would be better for Australia to simply suspend its extradition treaty altogether," she said.
"[That would] also signal to Beijing that this national security law is completely unacceptable and a betrayal of the one country, two systems [framework]."
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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Tear Up Agreement
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Xiamen Airlines Flight 8667 crash
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At four minutes to midnight of Aug. 16, Xiamen Airway’s Boeing 737 landed at NAIA and overshot the runway. Minutes later, the aircraft laid debilitated on a grassy patch adjacent to runway 24. It was unfortunate that the aircraft was positioned some 80 meters from the center point of the runway, 70 meters short of the minimum distance required by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) safety guidelines for the continued use of the airstrip. MIAA authorities had no recourse but to close the runway until such time as the aircraft is moved. The runway’s closure caused the cancellation of some 280 flights. Meanwhile, flights scheduled to land at NAIA had to be rerouted to Clark and other nearby airports. Mayhem spread throughout NAIA’s four terminals as waves upon waves of passengers were stranded. Tensions rose as more than 40,000 marooned passengers tried to make arrangements for alternative flights among just a handful of airline personal. Stress reached fever pitch as the airlines could not tell when normal flights would resume. Exacerbating the stress was the sardine-packed conditions of the airport and its shortage of waiting areas. Photos of NAIA’s jampacked terminals and horror stories of passengers flooded the internet instantaneously. As expected, public outrage filled the air. Accusations were hurled against Manila International Airport Authority personnel, specifically towards its General Manager Ed V. Monreal. Among the accusations thrown at MIAA were: 1. That it did not have the safety protocols nor the equipment to deal with emergency situations quickly; 2. That MIAA did not attend to the needs of the stranded passengers; 3. That 34 uncoordinated landings occurred under MIAA’s nose; 4. That MIAA gave false hopes to the passengers by saying that the runway was to be re-opened at 12 noon on the day after the incident, only to extend the re-opening five times. The dust has finally settled and we can now revisit the incident with objective eyes. Was NAIA Unprepared? Let me narrate the succession of events and you, my readers, can judge for yourselves. First of all, it should be known that ICAO is very specific about the chronological steps an airport authority must take during crash-landing situations. Four steps must be followed in specific order: The first step is to rescue passengers and control imminent fire and explosions. This should be followed by the investigation of the wreckage, the gathering of evidence and retrieval of the black-box.. Only then can the aircraft be moved from the crash site. Cleaning of debris, fragments and rubble follows before the runway can be reopened. This is how the incident went down:
At 11:56 pm of Aug. 16, the Manila Control Tower lost contact with Xiamen Air flight 8667. Two minutes later, MIAA’s Safety Patrol reported that the aircraft had landed but veered towards the grassy area of runway 24 with its belly on the ground. Its landing gear had collapsed and its left engine was detached. Emergency Plan No. 1 was immediately put into effect. MIAA’s Rescue and Firefighting Division (MIAA-RFD) was alerted as was the office of the General Manager, Assistant GM and Action Duty Manager. Within seconds, the MIAA-RFD dispatched all available fire trucks to the crash site. Twelve minutes later, the MIAA Airport Police arrived to secure the area. They were trailed by the MIAA’s medical team to attend to the injured. At 12:25 a.m., buses were deployed to evacuate the passengers. At 12:30 a.m., the Airport Crisis Control Management Group was activated and was temporarily headed by Action Manager on Duty, Manny Rodriguez. General Manager Ed Monreal arrived five minutes later and took over as on-scene commander. His first act was to organize the immediate evacuation of Xiamen Air’s 165 passengers. This was done successfully with all passengers safely transferred to a holding area in terminal 1. At 2:10 a.m., the investigative team arrived, headed by CAAP Director-General Jim Sydiongco, together with representatives from the Aircraft Accident Investigation and Inquiry Board. A mobile command post was set up at the scene. Evidence were gathered and the black-box was retrieved. Initial reports point to pilot error being the cause of the crash. Cargo and luggage were also unloaded at this time. Meanwhile, Monreal and his team planned how to extract and transfer the aircraft to a nearby holding bay. So as not to waste time, MIAA’s aircraft removal team arrived with their equipment even while the investigative team was at work. They were on standby, ready to be deployed as soon as clearance was given. The investigative team took four hours to gather evidence. It was only at 6:10 a.m. that the aircraft removal operation could commence. The plan was to jack up the aircraft using airbags, deploy its landing gear and tow the plane to a site where it did not pose a hazard to other aircrafts.
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Iceland is on high alert for a possible volcano eruption on the south-western peninsula near the capital Reykjavik
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Iceland is on high alert for a possible volcano eruption on the south-western peninsula near the capital Reykjavik. More than 20,000 earthquakes have occurred in recent weeks in an area that hasn't seen volcanic activity for the past 800 years. Pall Einarsson, Professor Emeritus of Geophysics at the University of Iceland, says big earthquake sequences are not unheard of. "But this is the first time we see it here in the neighbourhood of the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik and it's a new experience for a lot of people now, to feel earthquakes every day." Plans are afoot to make sure heavy machinery can be drafted in to make ditches and earth walls to change the course of any molten lava, should an eruption occur. Similar precautions were made in 1973 to save the main town on nearby Heimaey island. So far the tremors have not caused significant damage, at the moment the activity is more of a nuisance. Sigurdur Oli Thorleifsson, leader of Grindavik council, has returned back home after leaving the area to get some much-needed sleep. “We were outside, unloading the car. The earth shook outside and when I came in with the luggage, the kitchen island was on its side. And various things had come out of cupboards." Natural hazard specialists are currently on duty 24-hours a day in case of volcanic activity. If there is an eruption it is expected to be mainly lava, unlike the 2010 eruption of Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull volcano, whose massive plumes of ash disrupted air traffic for weeks in Europe and left millions of travellers stranded. The manager of the Volksbuehne theatre in Berlin has stepped down in the wake of accusations by women of bullying and sexual harassment. Klaus Doerr announced his resignation from the German capital's prominent theatre on Tuesday. He said that he takes “complete responsibility for the accusations against” him and was stepping down in agreement with the city government. “I deeply regret it if I hurt employees with my behaviour, with words or glances,” Doerr said in a statement released by the theatre. He added that he regretted not succeeding in “creating an open climate, sensitive to discrimination” within the theatre that would have recognised problems in time and enabled employees to come forward confidentially with complaints. The city government's culture minister, Klaus Lederer, said on Monday that employees had “reported incidents of abuse of power, bullying, verbal violence and sexual harassment.” Officials spoke to the women who made the claims in late January and were still assessing a meeting with Doerr held earlier this month, he added. Doerr, an experienced theatre manager, took over at the Volksbuehne in 2018. Lederer's department has said that no one came forward with complaints against Doerr before he was appointed. But that changed in January when a letter setting out complaints was sent to a counselling office set up in 2018 for people in the film, television, theatre and music sectors.
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Cloudera Foundation merger to bring AI and data to nonprofits
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The Cloudera Foundation, the philanthropic arm of big data vendor Cloudera, agreed to merge with the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation to bring AI and data-driven technologies and expertise to nonprofit organizations. Per the agreement, signed March 30, the Cloudera Foundation will merge its staff, $9 million endowment and $3 million of existing grants with the PJMF, based in Boston. Created in 2014 after the death of businessman and entrepreneur Patrick J. McGovern, the foundation is a global $1.5 billion charitable organization that invests programs, and organizations that use AI for good. That includes groups that advocate for ethical technology, support greater diversity in the tech industry and tackle global problems using data-driven technology. Typically, nonprofits are at a technical disadvantage, often running dated and cheap or free systems, said Alan Pelz-Sharpe, founder and principal analyst at Deep Analysis. "As [machine learning and AI] take hold over the coming years, that gap will grow further," he said. "So, there is no doubt that there is a need to help them to bridge that gap. The merger in that regard makes a great deal of sense." Still, Pelz-Sharpe noted, machine learning and AI are increasingly bundled with and embedded in standard business applications; Google and Microsoft, for example, build the technologies into their office suites. Nonprofits see the benefits of AI and machine learning there, and plenty of open source and low-cost cloud options also are available, he continued. The merger with the Cloudera Foundation accelerates the creation of a Data and Society program in the foundation, an initiative that aims to bring advanced data science and AI technologies and expertise to nonprofit and social impact organizations. "If the Data and Society program focuses on bridging the skills gap by helping nontechnical staff to make use of these tools, then that would be a good thing, but it's not clear exactly how they would do so," Pelz-Sharpe said. "All in all, this looks like a good move, but it's too early to tell if it will truly have much impact over time." Claudia Juech, the founding CEO of the Cloudera Foundation, will lead the new program. "I would expect this merger to help accelerate and support AI for social good initiatives," said Ritu Jyoti, program vice president of AI research at IDC. "Examples could range from automated monitoring of viral diseases to predicting poverty, and from climate informatics to helping train human moderators with identifying and quantifying online abuses on social media," she said. (Patrick McGovern founded IDC in 1964.) Software vendor Cloudera, based in Palo Alto, Calif., created the Cloudera Foundation in 2017 to work with nonprofits worldwide to help tackle global issues. The foundation relies on technology and expertise from Cloudera and its own staff of data technologists to carry out its work. According to the foundation, the Data and Society program pairs selected nonprofits with the foundation's data engineers and technologists to help the nonprofits curate and use data to solve business problems. Over the years, selected nonprofits will receive customized support with access to technology and technical assistance, according to PJMF. The new program will also strive to promote awareness among civic organizations about the business potential of AI and data. The merger is expected to be finalized in the second quarter of 2021, pending regulatory approval.
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Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 crash
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Afriqiyah Airways Flight 771 was a scheduled international Afriqiyah Airways passenger flight that crashed on 12 May 2010 at about 06:01 local time (04:01 UTC) on approach to Tripoli International Airport. [1][2] Of the 104 passengers and crew on board, 103 were killed. The sole survivor was a 9-year-old Dutch boy. [3][4][5][6] The crash of Flight 771 was the third hull-loss of an Airbus A330 involving fatalities, occurring eleven months after the crash of Air France Flight 447. [7][8]
The aircraft was an Airbus A330-202, registration 5A-ONG, manufacturer's serial number (MSN) 1024, fitted with two General Electric CF6-80E1A4 engines. It first flew on 12 August 2009 and was delivered to Afriqiyah Airways on 8 September 2009. At the time of the accident it had approximately 1,600 hours total flying time and about 420 take-off and landing cycles. [9][10][11][12] It was configured for a capacity of 230 passengers and 13 crew, including 30 business class seats and 200 economy class seats. [13][14] This particular flight carried 93 passengers and 11 crew. Most of the passengers were Dutch citizens returning from holiday in South Africa. [2][5] An airport official stated that 13 Libyans, both passengers and crew, as well 70 Dutch nationals had lost their lives in the crash. [7][15]
The flight crew consisted of the following:[16]:12–14[17]
The flight originated at OR Tambo International Airport, serving Johannesburg, South Africa. Its destination was Tripoli International Airport, Libya. [2] During the final approach and up to the moment of the accident the pilot had not reported any problems to the control tower. [18] The aircraft crashed about 1,200 metres (3,900 ft; 1,300 yd) short of Runway 09, outside the airport perimeter. [16]:9[19] The aircraft was destroyed by the impact and post-crash fire. [16]:11[20] The weather at the time of the crash was low wind, marginal visibility, and unlimited ceiling. [21][A] The main runway of the airport (Runway 09/27) is 3,600 metres (11,800 ft; 3,900 yd) long. [22] Libyan Transport Minister Mohammed Ali Zidan ruled out terrorism as a cause. [23] During the accident, the aircraft damaged a house on the ground. The homeowner, his wife, and their five children escaped unharmed. The house and a nearby mosque are scheduled to be demolished as part of the airport expansion plans. [24] The first body of a non-Libyan passenger was repatriated to the Netherlands on 27 May 2010. [25] On 21 June 2010 the Libyan authorities began clearing the accident site of Afriqiyah 771. [25]
The accident is the second deadliest involving an Airbus A330 (after Air France Flight 447), and the second deadliest accident to have occurred in Libya. [13] It also was the first fatal accident for Afriqiyah Airways. [19]
The Libyan Civil Aviation Authority (LYCAA) opened an investigation into the accident. [26] Airbus stated that it would provide full technical assistance to the authorities investigating the crash,[27] and would do so via the French Bureau of Enquiry and Analysis for Civil Aviation Safety (BEA). [28] The South African Civil Aviation Authority sent a team to assist with the investigation. [29] The BEA assisted in the investigation with an initial team of two investigators, accompanied by five advisors from Airbus. [30] The Dutch Safety Board (Dutch: Onderzoeksraad voor Veiligheid, literally "Investigation Council for Safety") sent an observer. [31] The flight recorders were recovered and sent to Paris for analysis soon after the incident. [18][32]
Authorities reviewed the recordings made by the Flight Data Recorder. [33] In August 2010, it was reported that preliminary investigations were complete. There was no evidence of any technical problems nor was there any fuel shortage. No technical or medical problems had been reported by the crew and they had not requested any assistance. [21]
On 28 February 2013, the Libyan Civil Aviation Authority announced that they had determined that the cause of the crash was pilot error. Crew resource management lacked/was insufficient, sensory illusions, and the first officer's inputs to the aircraft side stick were a contributing factor in the crash. Fatigue was also named as a possible contributing factor in the accident. [16]
The final report stated that the accident resulted from the pilots' lack of a common action plan during the approach, the final approach being continued below the Minimum Decision Altitude without ground visual reference being acquired, the inappropriate application of flight control inputs during the go-around and after the activation of the Terrain Awareness and Warning System, and the flight crew's lack of monitoring and controlling of the flight path. [16]
The flight crew did not acquire any visual ground references before initiating their approach to land. The aircraft began its final descent for landing too early. The aircraft had descended to 280 feet (85 m) above ground when the terrain awareness and warning system sounded a "too low terrain" alarm in the cockpit. The captain ordered a go-around and the autopilot was turned off. The first officer put the nose of the aircraft up for 4 seconds and the thrust levers were set to go-around power. The aircraft pitched up to 12.3° nose up and the flight crew raised the landing gear and flaps. Shortly thereafter the co-pilot started making nose down inputs which caused the aircraft to pitch-attitude to reduce to 3.5° nose down. (The co-pilot could have been focused on the aircraft's speed, rather than its altitude.) The go-around pitch attitude was not maintained and the instructions from the flight director were not followed. (The report says that fatigue could have played a role in causing the first officer to focus solely on the airspeed.)
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Australian pleads guilty to US bank robbery
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A 19-year-old Australian has pleaded guilty of robbing a bank in a Colorado ski resort with a friend, part of a saga of blunders that earned them the nicknames "dumb and dumber" in some sections of the Australian media. Jeff Anthony Prince, formerly of the NSW north coast, has admitted that he and fellow Australian Luke Carroll, stole $170,000 from the Weststar Bank in Vail, about 160 kilometres west of Denver, in late March. The 19-year-old Carroll is scheduled to plead guilty to the same charge next week. Local media reported the pair took photos of themselves with the stolen money and left a trail of clues. They were apprehended two days after the robbery at Denver's international airport as they were heading to Mexico. Prince will be sentenced in September.
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1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada
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The 1948 Anti-Jewish riots in Oujda and Jerada, the latter also known as Djerada or Jṛada, occurred on June 7–8, 1948, in the towns of Oujda and Jerada, in the northeast of the French protectorate in Morocco. In those events 43 Jews and one Frenchman were killed and approximately 150 injured at the hands of local Muslims.
French officials argued that the riots were "absolutely localized" to Oujda and Jerada, and that it had been "migration itself - and not widespread anti-Jewish animosity - that had sparked Muslim anger". [3]
René Brunel, the French Commissioner for the Oujda region, stated that rioting began when a Jewish barber attempted to cross into Algeria carrying explosives. Brunel wrote that that atmosphere has "overheated" as a result of "the clandestine passage over the border of a large number of young Zionists from all regions of Morocco trying to get to Palestine via Algeria. "[4] The French Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted that Jewish emigration from Oujda to Palestine was a significant irritant to the local Muslim population, noting that "It is characteristic that those in this region near to the Algerian border consider all Jews who depart as combatants for Israel. "[4] Alphonse Juin, Resident General in Morocco, noted that "the clandestine departure of Jews for Palestine ignited the anger already inflamed by professional agitators. "[4]
It has also been suggested that the riots were sparked by an anti-Zionist speech by Sultan Mohammed V relating to the ongoing 1948 Arab-Israeli War, although others suggest that the Sultan's speech was focused on ensuring the protection of the Moroccan Jews.
The riots began in Oujda, which was at the time the main transit hub for Zionist emigration out of Morocco, given its proximity to the Algerian border (Algeria was at the time part of Metropolitan France), in which 5 Jews were killed and 30 injured in the space of 3 hours before the army arrived. The mob riots in the neighbouring mining town of Jerada were even more violent, with 39 deaths.
At the time, Morocco was still a French colony, and the French commissioner for Oujda, René Brunel, blamed the violence on the Jews for leaving through Oujda and for sympathizing with the Zionist movement. The French League for Human Rights and Citizenship blamed the French colonial authority for their relaxed control in the area. Several officials from the local mining federation were tried in court for instigating the massacres and several were sentenced to life imprisonment with hard labor, the others given lighter sentences.
The emigration of Jews out of Morocco to Israel quickly became a flood after the incident. 18,000 Moroccan Jews left for Israel the following year and 110,000 out of a total of 250,000 Jews in Morocco left between 1948 and 1956.
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Celebrity Couples Who Choose Co-Parenting: From Aamir Khan-Kiran Rao To Hrithik Roshan-Sussanne Khan
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Rishabh Naudiyal Last Updated: Aug 12, 2021 | 09:12:31 IST
Over the years, we have seen many divorces in the entertainment industry. While some of them were ugly, some were quite inspiring to witness. Of course, the most critical aspect of a divorce is the custody battle between the partners over their children. However, while some parents decide to go for joint custody, enabling both of them to spend equal time with their children, on the other hand, some couples like to take their discord over parenting issues to the court.
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Many ex-celebrity couples in the Bollywood industry are co-parenting and making us believe in the popular phrase, "Relationships end, but family is forever." Some of the biggest actors of the entertainment industry are turning every stone upside down to make co-parenting functional in their lives. Here's the list of some celebrities, who are co-parenting successfully and inspiring everyone.
Recommended Read: When Salman Khan Helped Aamir Khan After His Traumatic Divorce From First Wife, Reena Datta
Konkona Sensharma and Ranvir Shorey's first meeting had happened on the sets of Rajat Kapoor's film, Mixed Doubles. The couple had fallen in love with each other during the course of the movie's shoot. After dating for a little over a year, Konkona and Ranvir got married on September 3, 2010, in an intimate ceremony. The couple had embraced parenthood on March 15, 2011, when Konkona and Ranvir had welcomed a baby boy, whom they had lovingly named Haroon Shorey.
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After five years of togetherness, Konkona Sensharma and Ranvir Shorey had announced their separation via the microblogging site, Twitter in September 2015. They have been co-parenting their son, Haroon, since then. Five years after mutually parting ways, Ranvir and Konkona were finally granted divorce in 2020.
According to a report in The Times Of India, a source had informed ETimes, "They came and left separately, but this is one of the most peaceful divorces that one has seen in a long time. There is no animosity between the two. Sad of course that they couldn't reconcile as a couple, but who can control destiny?"
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After his divorce from Reena Dutta, Aamir Khan had found love in director-producer, Kiran Rao, whom he had met during the shooting of Lagaan. Aamir and Kiran had tied the knot in December 2005 and had embraced parenthood with the arrival of their son, Azad Rao Khan via IVF.
In July 2021, Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao announced their divorce, ending their 15 years long married life. However, they will be co-parenting their son, Azad. On July 3, 2021, Aamir Khan and Kiran Rao had released an official statement announcing their divorce.
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Mentioning that they will co-parent their son, Azad Rao Khan, the statement could be read as “In these 15 beautiful years together we have shared a lifetime of experiences, joy and laughter, and our relationship has only grown in trust, respect and love. Now we would like to begin a new chapter in our lives – no longer as husband and wife, but as co-parents and family for each other.”
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Don't Miss: Super-Luxurious And High-End Branded Cars That Are Parked At The Garage Of The Bachchans Residence
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Arjun Rampal and Mehr Jesia got married in 1998. The couple had welcomed their first daughter, Mahikaa, on January 17, 2002. After three years, in June 2005, Arjun and Mehr had welcomed another daughter and had named her Myra. However, after spending 20 years of their lives in a marital bond, Arjun and Mehr had decided to separate in 2018.
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The official statement from Arjun Rampal and Mehr Jesia announcing their divorce could be read as “After a 20-year-long beautiful journey filled with love and beautiful memories, we would like to share that all journeys have different paths. We feel that it is time for us to move on to different destinations henceforth.”
We have time and again seen instances of how great parents Arjun Rampal and Mehr Jesia are. For instance, in July 2018, post their separation, Arjun and Mehr were holidaying with their two beautiful daughters, Mahikaa and Myra in Paris. Arjun himself had taken to Instagram and had posted a snap of his ex-wife and two daughters and had written a crisp caption which was further added to the picture. The caption could be read as, “Parisian ladies” which was coupled with hashtags- ‘Paris’, ‘vacation’, ‘beautiful girls’ and a heart emoji. Here’s the picture:
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Saif Ali Khan and Amrita Singh had met for the first time during Rahul Rawail's film with which Saif was going to make his debut. Despite their age gap of 12 years, Saif and Amrita got married in October 1991. After four years, on August 12, 1995, Saif and Amrita had welcomed their first child, who was a baby girl and had named her Sara Ali Khan. The couple had embraced parenthood for the second time when their son, Ibrahim Ali Khan, was born on March 5, 2021.
Even though no official confirmation came our way over why did Saif and Amrita get divorced after 13 strong years of being married, many attribute Saif Ali Khan's affairs and falling "out of love" with Amrita as the reasons behind their separation. It was also speculated that Saif's proximity with Italian dancer and model Rosa Catalonia was the reason behind his separation from Amrita.
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Once in an interview with the Hindustan Times, Saif Ali Khan had revealed how he and his ex-wife, Amrita Singh, are supporting their children, Sara Ali Khan and Ibrahim Ali Khan. The doting father had also stated that there's a kind of mutual respect between members of their whole family that makes things easy. He had explained:
"You have to be, you have to make the most of whatever situation and life is beautiful. Nobody should really sit around complaining too much because everything's alright. Sometimes, having two parents might not be the best thing for anyone, but it might be. I mean a nice stable home is a wonderful environment that one would like to give and share with kids."
After a chance meeting at a traffic signal, Hrithik and Sussanne had met at the engagement party of the actor’s sister, Sunaina Roshan. Hrithik and Sussanne had tied the knot on December 20, 2000, breaking many hearts.
After six years of married life, on March 28, 2006, Hrithik and Sussanne had welcomed their firstborn, whom they have named, Hrehaan Roshan. Later, on May 1, 2008, the family of three had turned into a family of four as they had welcomed another baby boy, Hridaan Roshan, into their lives.
Just a week before their 13th wedding anniversary, on December 13, 2013, Hrithik Roshan had announced the news of ending his 17 years long relationship. Though other details of their divorce settlement were not revealed further, it was revealed that the couple would be sharing the custody of their two kids- Hrehaan and Hridaan.
During the lockdown, Hrithik and Sussanne had decided to live together and co-parent their kids, Hrehaan and Hridaan. On March 25, 2020, Hrithik had taken to his Instagram handle and had posted a picture of his ex-wife, Sussanne Khan chilling in his home. The actor had revealed that Sussanne had moved in with him for the self-quarantine period so that their children can spend time with both of them. Hrithik had written a long emotional note, thanking Sussanne that could be read as:
"This is a picture of dear Sussanne (my ex-wife), who has graciously volunteered to temporarily move out of her home so that our children are not disconnected indefinitely from either one of us. Thank you Sussanne for being so supportive and understanding in our journey of co-parenting. Our children will tell the story we create for them. I hope and pray that to safeguard the health of ourselves and our loved ones, we all find our way to express love, empathy, courage, strength with an open heart."
In an interview with the Vogue magazine, Sussanne Khan had opened up on the decision of co-parenting with Hrithik amidst the pandemic. She had shared how she and her ex-husband had decided to live together for the sake of their kids. Sussanne had said:
"When COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and the news was out that a lockdown would be imperative, Hrithik and I decided that staying together in the same home would be the more intelligent and soulful decision for our sons and for us. We realised early on that the days ahead would require us to regroup our energies towards creating serenity for one another. With that thought in mind, and a heap full of love, we started on our lockdown adventure."
Also Read: Aamir Khan's Love Life, First Marriage With Reena, Fell For Kiran Only To Divorce Her After 15 Years
Arbaaz Khan and Malaika Arora Khan entered the nuptial bond on December 12, 1998, and they got legally divorced on May 11, 2017, after announcing their separation in March 2016. The couple together has a 15-year-old son named, Arhaan Khan.
Once in an interview with a leading media portal, Arbaaz had further talked about sharing the news of his divorce with Malaika with their son, Arhaan and how he had dealt with it. Arbaaz had revealed that their son, Arhaan was 12 years old when they had shared the news of their separation. The actor had revealed that his son had welcomed his and Malaika’s decision quite maturely.
Anurag Kashyap was earlier married to acclaimed film editor, Aarti Bajaj. The couple had met in college and had dated each other for nine years before getting married in 2003. Soon, the couple had welcomed a baby girl, whom they had lovingly named Aaliyah.
Sadly, Anurag Kashyap and Aarti Bajaj got divorced in 2009 and it was reported that constant dips in Anurag Kashyap’s professional life during the initial phase were the reason for his separation from his first wife. However, the two took care of their daughter with all their heart and even to this very day, both parents are co-parenting Aaliyah and never miss a chance to shower their immense love on her.
Farhan Akhtar and Adhuna Bhabani got married in 2000 after a courtship of around 3 years. The couple had welcomed two beautiful daughters, Shakya and Akira. After staying married for 16 long years, this power couple had filed for divorce in 2016. Both Farhan and Adhuna have been very mature about the divorce. There has been no bad blood between them ever, and they have been on very cordial terms since the filing of their divorce in October 2016.
Farhan and Adhuna have also maintained a cordial relationship and are co-parenting their daughters, Shakya and Akira. In a 2019 interview with Pinkvilla, Farhan had opened up on how he broke the news of his divorce to his kids. He had shared:
"Nothing is easy. Anything you tell your child which you think your child doesn't want to hear is never going to be easy. The thing that your child expects you and by you doing it, you will realise that this is what you expect from them. If you can be honest with your child, they are not dumb or stupid. They understand way more than you and I can imagine. They have a sense of energy on how their parents are feeling."
While Farhan is in a relationship with Shibani Dandekar, his ex-wife, Adhuna is rumoured to be dating Nicolo Morea, who is the brother of Bollywood actor, Dino Morea.
The divorce process is undoubtedly a painful one for the kids and can also leave children emotionally broken. However, these celebrities have proved that we can find a ray of hope even in the darkest of storms. These celeb parents are inspiring and deserve massive applause for all the efforts they’re putting in to make co-parenting functional in their lives.
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Nine workers found dead in China gold mine collapse, one miner still missing
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Chinese rescuers have found the bodies of nine workers killed in explosions at a gold mine, raising the death toll to 10, officials have said. Eleven others were rescued a day earlier after being trapped underground for two weeks at the mine in Shandong province. One person is still missing. The cause of the accident at the mine, which was under construction, is under investigation. The explosions on January 10 released 70 tonnes of debris that blocked a shaft, disabling elevators and trapping workers underground. Rescuers drilled parallel shafts to send down food and water and eventually brought up the survivors on Sunday. Chen Yumin, director of the rescue group, told reporters that the nine workers recovered on Monday died more than 400 metres below ground. He said there had been two explosions about 90 minutes apart, with the second explosion causing more damage. Search efforts will continue for the remaining miner until he is found, said Chen Fei, the mayor of Yantai city, where the mine is located. "Until this worker is found, we will not give up," he said at a news conference. Mr Chen and other officials involved in the rescue effort held a moment of silence for the victims, bowing their heads. "Our hearts are deeply grieved. We express our profound condolences, and we express deep sympathies to the families of the victim," he said. Authorities have detained mine managers for delays in reporting the accident. Such protracted and expensive rescue efforts are relatively new in China's mining industry, which used to average 5,000 deaths per year. Increased supervision has improved safety, although demand for coal and precious metals continues to prompt corner-cutting. A new crackdown was ordered after two accidents in mountainous south-western Chongqing last year killed 39 miners.
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POLITICOPolitico Logo
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Vice President Kamala Harris meets with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021 in Washington, D.C. | Jacquelyn Martin/AP Photo
09/23/2021 07:25 PM EDT
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India’s prime minister is in Washington this week for a coveted White House meeting. But Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalism and his country’s backsliding on human rights and democracy are creating a problematic alliance for President Joe Biden.
Modi, a favorite friend of former President Donald Trump, will meet Biden on Friday along with the leaders of Australia and Japan. The four countries make up the “Quad,” a grouping Biden is trying to elevate in a broader effort to stand up to China.
While the members of the Quad all are democracies, India’s was recently downgraded from “free” to “partly free” by Freedom House, which slammed Modi’s government for everything from harassment of journalists to attacks on non-Hindus.
Yet not only have Biden administration officials kept their public criticisms of Modi to a minimum, they’ve even engaged in outreach to Modi allies known for their extreme views.
Earlier this month, the top U.S. diplomat in New Delhi met with the leader of an Indian organization notorious for its often-violent promotion of Hindu nationalism. The U.S. envoy, Atul Keshap, was reported to say afterward that he’d had a “good discussion” with Mohan Bhagwat, chief of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, a movement with paramilitary elements that intimidate Muslims and other non-Hindus. Keshap said the pair spoke of how “India’s tradition of diversity, democracy, inclusivity and pluralism can ensure the vitality and strength of a truly great nation.”
Those remarks did little to reassure longtime observers of the Washington-New Delhi dynamic, who fear it’s all part of a broader willingness of the Biden administration to look away from the Modi government’s abuses despite U.S. influence on the country.
Vice President Kamala Harris talks with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the balcony of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021. | Evan Vucci/AP Photo
“Why is the Biden administration so mute on India’s human rights situation? Why are U.S. officials pulling their punches? What is the strategy?” asked John Sifton, Asia advocacy director at Human Rights Watch. “The U.S. is a vital partner to India, in trade, diplomacy and military relations — this is leverage that the Biden administration does not seem to know how to measure properly.”
On Thursday, as the Indian leader scored a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris , one U.S. lawmaker also voiced concern about India’s trajectory under Modi.
“I hope his White House visit includes honest conversations about how the Modi government can ensure India’s democracy remains a democracy for all of its people,” Rep. Andy Levin (D-Mich.) said in a statement.
White House and State Department spokespersons did not offer on-the-record comments for this story. The Indian Embassy also did not respond to requests for comment. Keshap, who was in charge of the U.S. Embassy in India on a temporary basis, has since left the post.
Elevating the Quad, including India, will continue to be a priority, a senior Biden administration official said Thursday in a written statement.
“The Quad is a model for how much of our statecraft in Indo-Pacific will look going forward,” the senior official said. “It’s about bringing together allies and partners together in a flexible, fit-for-purpose configuration.”
Biden administration officials have said they do not have blinders on to India’s troubles. Instead, they argue that when it comes to a country of 1.4 billion people that is geo-strategically vital — especially when it comes to holding a rising China at bay — they prefer to level their criticisms behind the scenes.
“Public admonishment is the appropriate tack under certain circumstances, but in other circumstances the private approach is what’s really going to do the most good,” one senior official recently told POLITICO in describing the administration’s overall strategy on human rights .
That worries other U.S. officials who argue that there’s little evidence that the overall human rights and democracy atmosphere in India is improving.
“We are repeating the Obama and Trump mistake of cozying up to India and Modi without demanding Modi end his tilt towards authoritarianism and start protecting human rights and religious freedom,” a U.S. official engaged in the debate told POLITICO. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.
The U.S. official said Biden administration representatives do voice their human rights concerns privately to their Indian counterparts, but, “I just don’t know that Modi or his party change any behavior because of those conversations.”
Complicating the U.S. calculation, the official added, is that Modi remains popular in India, so there’s “lots of hand-wringing” inside the Biden administration about what to do.
As the U.S. official suggested, Biden is to an extent echoing his recent predecessors.
Modi came into power in 2014, and former President Barack Obama largely embraced him, despite Modi’s record of anti-Muslim sentiment.
By LARA SELIGMAN
In fact, nearly a decade earlier, Modi had been denied a U.S. visa on religious freedom grounds after he was accused of tacitly supporting Hindu extremists attacking Muslims years earlier in the Indian state of Gujarat, where he was chief minister. In 2016, however, Modi’s star had risen so much in Washington that he delivered an address to the U.S. Congress.
Trump, Obama’s successor in the Oval Office, made little pretense of caring about human rights and openly sought favor with the world’s autocrats. He also was keen on countering a rising China. All of that made Modi a particular favorite of Trump’s.
In 2019, Trump attended a “Howdy, Modi!” rally in Houston, Texas, alongside the Indian leader. The following year, Trump visited with Modi in New Delhi. Both events attracted massive crowds. During Trump’s visit, Muslims and Hindus clashed in riots in the Indian capital, but Trump said Modi had reassured him about the situation, and that Modi was working closely with India’s minority Muslims. Trump’s own antipathy toward Muslims — whom he had proposed banning from U.S. soil — made him a favorite of Hindu nationalists.
When Biden ran for president, he trashed Trump’s seeming indifference to suffering around the world, and he promised to put human rights at the “center” of his foreign policy.
But Biden and his team also were clear early on that they saw India as a nearly irreplaceable partner.
Modi was among the first leaders the new U.S. president met with (though in a virtual Quad meeting, due to the coronavirus pandemic). India also was a stop on Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin’s first overseas trip .
Even though the Biden administration was initially largely focused on the domestic challenge of the pandemic, it stepped up to aid India as it faced a brutal wave of the virus during the spring. The Biden administration also supported India and South Africa at the World Trade Organization as they proposed waiving intellectual property protections on Covid-19 vaccines. The administration also pledged early on to “ deepen our partnership with India ” in a document laying out its national security views.
While building a bulwark against China is a paramount concern for the Biden team, plenty of other reasons also factor into its friendliness toward New Delhi. That includes a desire for Indian leadership in tackling climate change and pandemics.
The U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan and the takeover of the country by the Islamist Taliban militia also promises to have reverberations in America’s relationship with India, a major player in South Asia that is always worried about archrival Pakistan’s actions in Afghanistan.
All of this suggests the Biden administration is unlikely to back off its embrace of New Delhi anytime soon.
Modi hails from the Bharatiya Janata Party, a Hindu nationalist political movement. The BJP’s rise long concerned Indians who worried that the party would erode the tradition of secular democracy in a country with many diverse religious and ethnic groups, including some 200 million Muslims.
Modi’s economic policies have had mixed results, but his improvement of public services for India’s poor have drawn positive reviews, while elections in the country are still considered largely free and fair. But on many fronts, activists argue, India’s institutions and its minorities are under attack.
During a congressional briefing this week, Sifton laid out examples . Among them: The Modi government’s passage of a law that discriminates against Muslims by making religion a basis of citizenship; its revocation of the autonomy granted to the majority-Muslim Jammu and Kashmir region and subsequent crackdown on that state; and the passage in some Indian states of “anti-conversion” laws that appear to target Muslim men who marry Hindu women.
These and other moves are playing out against a backdrop of more violence against religious minorities, crackdowns on government critics and journalists and more, Sifton and others have noted.
Analysts point out that India is a vast, diverse country, and that trying to measure progress or failure on a subject like human rights is challenging if not impossible because not every element moves in the same direction at the same time. Plus, the United States’ own reputation when it comes to democracy and human rights took a hit under Trump, especially in the wake of the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, making U.S. diplomats’ job even harder.
Alyssa Ayres, who served as a deputy assistant secretary of State for South Asia during the Obama years, said the Biden administration appears to be striving to find the right balance and that there’s no reason to doubt that it is discussing human rights and democracy with the Modi government, even if privately.
“We should be able to pursue our national security interests while also raising important issues of human rights,” said Ayres, now dean of the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses the gathering during Independence Day celebrations in New Delhi, India, on Aug. 15, 2021. | Manish Swarup/AP Photo
To influence governments, U.S. diplomats often make a point of talking to a broad array of power players in the countries where they are posted. And the RSS is without question a major influence on Modi and the BJP. (If there have been past meetings between U.S. diplomats and RSS leaders, they’ve been largely kept under wraps, though there was a report of at least one such encounter in 2020.)
“U.S. officials meet a wide range of political, business, religious, and civil society leaders in India and across the world,” a State Department spokesperson said in a statement. “We cannot comment on the details of private diplomatic conversations.”
Still, the pro-Hindu approach of the group — whose ideology is referred to as “Hindutva” — is often described as chauvinist, extremist and violent by rights activists. Members of its student wing are accused of attacking professors and others on campuses, while one of its acolytes was the man who assassinated Indian icon Mahatma Gandhi. The group has at times been banned in India.
Keshap’s meeting upset some American Muslim activists, a number of whom plan to protest Modi’s visit to the White House this week.
In a Sept. 20 letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the American Muslim Institution condemned Keshap’s visit.
“Mr. Secretary, given the current religious discrimination and violence facing Christian, Muslim and Dalit minority groups in India, it is critical the United States not legitimatize the RSS and those perpetuating violence against minorities in India,” states the letter, a copy of which was obtained by POLITICO. “It is critical that we hold not only our foes but our allies accountable when it comes to our long-cherished values of religious freedom, justice, equality and rule of law.”
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Diplomatic Visit
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Lorna Jane fined $5m by Federal Court for false COVID-19 prevention claims about its clothing
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A Victorian man who flew from Brisbane to Hobart on flight VA702 today has tested positive to COVID-19 and has not been allowed to board a flight to Melbourne
A Watch & Act warning is in place for a fire in the northern parts of Mokine, in WA's Northam Shire. Keep up to date with ABC Emergency
Australian clothing firm Lorna Jane has been fined $5 million in the Federal Court for claiming its clothes prevent the transmission of COVID-19.
The court labelled the claim "predatory and exploitative".
The company claimed its anti-virus activewear had been sprayed with a substance called "LJ Shield", which protected people against pathogens.
Advertisements on the brand's website, stores and on Instagram made the claim: "Cure for the Spread of COVID-19? Lorna Jane Thinks So".
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) launched court action against the company, accusing it of making false and misleading claims.
In a decision handed down in Brisbane on Friday, Justice Darryl Rangiah said Lorna Jane sought to "exploit the fear and concern" surrounding the deadly outbreak.
"The advertising campaign was conducted in July 2020, at a time of considerable uncertainty, fear and concern amongst the public about the consequences and spread of COVID-19," Justice Rangiah said.
"Lorna Jane sought to exploit that fear and concern of the public through the use of misleading, deceptive and untrue representations about the properties of LJ Shield activewear.
"Lorna Jane sought to profit from the fear with concerns of the public in a way that involves unlawful conduct in contravention of the relevant provisions of the Australian Consumer Law.
"The behaviour of Lorna Jane can only be described as exploitative, predatory and potentially dangerous."
Justice Rangiah said the court must impose a substantial penalty to reflect the conduct's seriousness and demonstrate "exploitative conduct of this kind will not pay".
Breaking down the latest news and research to understand how the world is living through an epidemic, this is the ABC's Coronacast podcast.
ACCC commissioner Sarah Court had previously said the matter was "particularly concerning", with Lorna Jane giving the impression the COVID-19 claims were based on scientific or technological evidence.
"We are particularly concerned about this because consumers often trust well-known brands and assume that their marketing claims are backed up by solid evidence," Ms Court said.
In July last year, Lorna Jane was fined almost $40,000 by the Therapeutic Goods Administration for failing to seek correct approval for the ads.
Action against company director Lorna Jane Clarkson for being "knowingly concerned" in the conduct did not proceed.
AAP
See our full coverage of coronavirus
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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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Organization Fine
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Northern Irish loyalists end support for peace deal over Brexit
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Paramilitary groups temporarily pull support for 1998 Good Friday Agreement citing concern over Brexit trade disruption.
Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary groups have told British Prime Minister Boris Johnson they are temporarily withdrawing support for the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement due to concerns over the United Kingdom’s Brexit deal with the European Union.
While the groups pledged “peaceful and democratic” opposition to the deal, such a stark warning increases the pressure on Johnson, his Irish counterpart Micheal Martin and the EU over Brexit.
The 1998 peace accord, also known as the Belfast Agreement, ended three decades of violence between mostly Catholic nationalists fighting for a united Ireland and mostly Protestant unionists, or loyalists, who want Northern Ireland to stay part of the UK.
The loyalist paramilitaries including the Ulster Volunteer Force, Ulster Defence Association and Red Hand Commando said they were concerned about the disruption to trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK due to the Brexit deal.
“The loyalist groupings are herewith withdrawing their support for the Belfast Agreement,” they said in a March 3 letter to Johnson from Loyalist Communities Council chairman David Campbell, seen by Reuters news agency.
A similar letter has been sent to the Irish leader and copies were sent to the European Commission Vice President Maros Sefcovic.
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The paramilitary groups said they were determined that unionist opposition to the Northern Ireland Protocol – part of the 2020 Brexit agreement – was peaceful but added a warning.
“Please do not underestimate the strength of feeling on this issue right across the unionist family,” the letter said.
“If you or the EU is not prepared to honour the entirety of the agreement then you will be responsible for the permanent destruction of the agreement,” it said.
The paramilitary groups said they would not return to the deal until their rights were restored and the Northern Ireland Protocol was amended to ensure unfettered trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
But, they said, their core disagreement was more fundamental: that the EU, the UK and the Republic of Ireland had in the Northern Ireland Protocol breached their commitments to the 1998 peace deal and the two communities.
The UK-EU Brexit agreement establishes tariff- and quota-free exchange of goods but sets up veterinary and customs checks and other obstacles to the previously seamless commerce between the pair. Contentiously, it also imposes new checks on some trade between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.
Preserving the delicate peace in Northern Ireland without allowing the UK a back door into the EU’s markets through the 310-mile (500 km) UK-Irish land border was one of the most difficult issues of the Brexit divorce talks.
An open Irish border has helped underpin the peace process built on the Good Friday accord, which ended decades of violence involving Irish republicans, UK loyalists and UK armed forces, in which more than 3,600 people died.
The loyalist groups abandoned their armed struggle in 1998 and residual violence since the accord has largely been carried out by dissident nationalist groups who opposed the peace deal.
But the new checks have unsettled the political balance in the region, which has had problems importing a range of goods from the rest of the UK since it broke away from the EU’s single market and customs union on January 1, 2021.
Northern Ireland authorities temporarily halted veterinary checks and withdrew border staff from ports last month after threatening graffiti appeared referring to port workers as targets.
Northern Ireland businesses have meanwhile warned they are struggling to cope with the new red tape.
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To ease the burden, the UK announced on Wednesday that it was unilaterally extending until October a temporary “grace period” waiving checks on agri-food goods entering Northern Ireland. It had been due to end on March 31.
The EU promised legal action in response to the move, which Brussels said violated the terms of the Brexit divorce deal.
The Republic of Ireland, an EU member state, said the UK was behaving inappropriately.
“For the second time in the course of a few months, the British government has threatened to breach international law,” Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told Virgin Media television, referring to a similar unilateral move last year that London eventually dropped.
“This is not the appropriate behaviour of a respectable country, quite frankly.”
In an apparent bid to cool the mounting tensions, Johnson on Thursday said the latest problems surrounding Brexit and Northern Ireland could be solved with “goodwill” and “common sense”.
He also told reporters he had not seen which Northern Irish loyalist paramilitary groups had said they were temporarily withdrawing support for the 1998 peace agreement due to concerns over the Brexit deal.
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Tear Up Agreement
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Brazil dam collapse: 40 dead, 300 people feared missing
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The death toll from the collapse of a dam holding back mine waste in southeastern Brazil rose to 40 on Saturday as searchers flying in helicopters and rescuers labouring in deep mud uncovered more bodies. An estimated 300 people were still missing and authorities expected the death toll to increase during a search made more challenging by intermittent rains. Scores of families in the city desperately awaited word on their loved ones, and Romeu Zema, governor of Minas Gerais state, promised that those responsible "would be punished". Employees of the mining complex owned and operated by Brazilian mining company Vale were eating lunch Friday afternoon when the dam gave way, unleashing a sea of reddish-brown mud that knocked over and buried several structures of the company and surrounding areas. The level of devastation quickly led President Jair Bolsonaro and other officials to describe it as a "tragedy". The flow of waste reached the nearby community of Vila Ferteco and an occupied Vale administrative office. On Saturday, rooftops poked above an extensive field of the mud, which also cut off roads. After the dam collapse, some were evacuated from Brumadinho. Other residents of the affected areas barely escaped with their lives. "I saw all the mud coming down the hill, snapping the trees as it descended. It was a tremendous noise," said a tearful Simone Pedrosa, from the neighbourhood of Parque Cachoeira, about 8 kilometres from where the dam collapsed. Pedrosa, 45, and her parents dashed to their car and drove to the highest point in the neighbourhood. "If we had gone down the other direction, we would have died," Pedrosa said, adding that she had a feeling "that this was the end of my life". "I cannot get that noise out of my head," she said. "It's a trauma ... I'll never forget." In addition to the 40 bodies recovered as of Saturday afternoon, 23 people were hospitalised, said authorities with the Minas Gerais fire department. There had been some signs of hope earlier on Saturday when authorities found 43 more people alive. Company officials also had said that 100 workers were accounted for. But the company said in a statement Saturday afternoon that more than 200 workers were still missing, while fire officials at one point estimated the total number at close to 300. Vale CEO Fabio Schvartsman said he did not know what caused the collapse. About 300 employees were working when it happened. Emergency workers suspended their search shortly after nightfall. They planned to resume at first light on Sunday morning. For many, hope was fading to anguish. "I don't think he is alive," said Joao Bosco, speaking of his cousin, Jorge Luis Ferreira, who worked for Vale. "Right now I can only hope for a miracle of God." Vanilza Sueli Oliveira described the wait for news of her nephew as "distressing, maddening." "Time is passing," she said. "It's been 24 hours already. ... I just don't want to think that he is under the mud." The rivers of mining waste also raised fears of widespread contamination. According to Vale's website, the waste, often called tailings, is composed mostly of sand and is non-toxic. However, a UN report found that the waste from a similar disaster in 2015 "contained high levels of toxic heavy metals". On Friday, Minas Gerais state court blocked USD 260 million from Vale for state emergency services and told the company to present a report about how they would help victims. On Saturday, the state's justice ministry ordered an additional USD 1.3 billion blocked. Brazil's Attorney General, Raquel Dodge, promised to investigate, saying "someone is definitely at fault". Dodge noted there are 600 mines in the state of Minas Gerais alone that are classified as being at risk of rupture. Another dam administered by Vale and Australian mining company BHP Billiton collapsed in 2015 in the city of Mariana in Minas Gerais state, resulting in 19 deaths and forcing hundreds from their homes. Considered the worst environmental disaster in Brazilian history, it left 250,000 people without drinking water and killed thousands of fish. An estimated 60 million cubic metres of waste flooded rivers and eventually flowed into the Atlantic Ocean. Schvartsman said what happened Friday was "a human tragedy much larger than the tragedy of Mariana, but probably the environmental damage will be less". Sueli de Oliveira Costa, who hadn't heard from her husband since Friday, had harsh words for the mining company. "Vale destroyed Mariana and now they've destroyed Brumadinho," she said. Daily Folha de S.Paulo reported on Saturday that the dam's mining complex was issued an expedited license to expand in December due to "decreased risk". Preservation groups in the area alleged that the approval was unlawful. On Twitter, President Bolsonaro said his government would do everything it could to "prevent more tragedies" like Mariana and now Brumadinho. The far-right leader campaigned on promises to jump-start Brazil's economy, in part by deregulating mining and other industries. Environmental groups and activists said the latest spill underscored a lack of regulation, and many promised to fight any further deregulation by Bolsonaro in Latin America's largest nation. "History repeats itself," tweeted Marina Silva, a former environmental minister and three-time presidential candidate. "It's unacceptable that government and mining companies haven't learned anything."
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Mine Collapses
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GB's Keely Hodgkinson wins silver in Tokyo 2020 Olympics 800m race and breaks Kelly Holmes' record
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Keely Hodgkinson has broken Kelly Holmes' long-standing national record to win the Olympic silver medal in the women’s 800 metres race.
The 19-year-old finished behind the USA's Athing Mu, finishing in one minute 55.88 seconds to beat Holmes' record set in 1995.
Hodgkinson's blistering pace makes her the eighth fastest woman over 800m of all time - and she's also claimed Team GB's first medal on the track at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
Hodgkinson is not on funding but knows her heroics in Japan will thrust her into the big time.
"I’m ready, that’s what I’ve dreamed of. I want to do this. "I want to be one of the best in the world. I’m going to do everything I can to be that," said Hodgkinson, after winning Team GB’s first athletics medal of the Games.
Hodgkinson said: "I’m just going to keep on doing what I’m doing. Don’t fix something if it’s not broken. What I’ve been doing the last year has got me to this point."
She added: "I’m going to carry on doing it. If you don’t enjoy it everything becomes pressurised and hard work. As long as I keep doing what I’m doing and stay injury free, hopefully there will be many more moments like this.
"In the past two years the support around me has brought me on, kept me relaxed and I have taken every aspect of this experience with me. "I just wanted to go on this track and execute. This is what I want to do, be one of the best in the world."
She added: "I am speechless right now. Kelly is a massive legend of the sport and always be with that double Olympic gold.
"She seems so lovely and has been sending me messages the last few days being very supportive. I am quite in shock about that time, but I couldn’t be happier."
Hodgkinson will also treat herself to a rare night out to celebrate.
"You’ll catch me in the club. One guilt-free night out before I finish the season," she said.
Raevyn Roger, from the US, overtook Britain's Jemma Reekie in the last push for the finish line and claimed third place, while Reekie settled for fourth. Reekie still claimed a personal best of one minute 56.90 seconds. Roger beat her by just 0.09 seconds.
Alex Bell, who also represented Team GB in the 800m final, also claimed a personal best and came seventh with a time of 1.57.66 minutes.
Reekie said: "I wanted to win, but sometimes you have to learn. Paris isn’t too far away.
"I wanted to do better. I am going to be hard on myself because I wanted to win but I think I’ll look back in two years’ time and realise how well I’ve done."
Bell said: “I’m glad that I’ve got a PB out of it, I was just so focused on not coming last!
“I wasn’t even bothered about the time during the race. But that’s just racing, when you’re focused on the race the times just follow.”
Hodgkinson, a criminology student at Leeds Beckett University, has been largely unknown until now.
In January, she ran 1:59.03 in an 800m race in Vienna to become the fastest woman under 20 at the distance indoors.
A month later, she became the youngest British European Indoor champion for over 50 years after winning the 800m in Torun.
Coach Jenny Meadows, who won a world bronze in 2009, tweeted a picture of a relaxed Hodgkinson curling her eyelashes ahead of the race.
Hodgkinson is not funded by British Athletics as it did not add any more athletes into the World Class Performance Programme in 2020 due to the pandemic.
She is instead supported by Barrie Wells, a millionaire businessman who has helped fund athletes in the past, including Jessica Ennis-Hill and Katarina Johnson-Thompson for the London 2012 Olympics.
Wells had promised Hodgkinson the chance to drive an Aston Martin if she made the final.
Team GB have claimed eight more medals at the Tokyo Olympics on Tuesday - with two golds in sailing.
In sailing, Giles Scott took the overall win in the men’s Finn class, shortly after Dylan Fletcher and Stuart Bithell claimed gold in the men’s 49er at the Tokyo Olympics.
And Great Britain’s John Gimson and Anna Burnet won the silver medal in the mixed Nacra 17 class.
Meanwhile, GB won two silver medals in track cycling - in the women's team pursuit and men's team sprint.
Boxer Pat McCormack also won the silver medal after losing his welterweight final against Cuba’s Roniel Iglesias.
Earlier in the morning, Great Britain’s Jack Laugher won the bronze in the men’s 3m springboard.
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The talks are set to end at 6pm, but could overrun as negotiators face pressure to resolve issues around finance for poorer countries and seek to cut emissions.
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Break historical records
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Bank robbers go underground to steal $85m
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Thieves have dug a 200-metre long tunnel to break into a Brazilian bank's safe, stealing at least $85 million in the biggest bank heist in the country's history. The thieves penetrated the Banco Central bank in the north-eastern city of Fortaleza on the weekend via the tunnel. "The crime was discovered Monday morning," the bank said in a statement. Banco Central said the robbers opened five containers with 50-real ($28) bills. Police sources said the robbers operated from a house where they created a fictitious gardening company, which allowed them to get rid of earth they dug without suspicion. The four-metre deep tunnel was lined in plastic and had electric lights and a floor. Police speculated that there must have had about 20 thieves, but did not immediately say that they had questioned any suspects. "They worked for several months," police said. "The gardening company was working since March. They had sophisticated equipment, including (global positioning systems) and experts in math, engineering and excavation." -AFP
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2009 Indonesian Air Force Fokker F27 crash
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On 6 April 2009, a Fokker F27-400M Troopship of the Indonesian Air Force crashed into a hangar at Husein Sastranegara International Airport, Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. [1] Witnesses stated that lightning struck the aircraft before the crash. The aircraft was carrying 18 passengers and 6 crew when it crashed. There were no survivors among the 24 people on board. The aircraft took off at 08:40 WIB from Halim Perdanakusuma Airport in Jakarta. The aircraft later landed at Husein Sastranegara International Airport in Bandung at 09:00. Two sessions of parachute jumps from the aircraft were planned. The first session occurred at 09:30 for 17 parachutists, all jumped safely. Seventeen parachutists and an instructor were on board the aircraft for the second session at 12:36. However, the flight crew was aware that the weather in the airport were deteriorating, deciding to return to base. The aircraft was hit by lightning, nose dived and crashed into the hangar, killing everyone on board. Rescue teams found that all of the victims had suffered extreme injuries, making identification difficult. [2]
Because the accident occurred at lunch time, the hangar was relatively empty and nobody on the ground was injured. However, the F27 impacted four aircraft inside the hangar: a NC-212 and a Boeing 737 belonging to Batavia Air, seriously damaging both; an Adam Air Boeing 737 and an Indonesian Aerospace CN-235 received minor damage. [3]
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Air crash
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Two Highly Contagious Coronavirus Variants Appear in South Africa
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South African officials say two highly contagious variants of coronavirus are now present in the country, as Africa’s worst-hit nation prepares for a possible new onslaught of cases. Officials from the National Institute for Communicable Diseases announced late Sunday that they have detected the B.1.617.2 and B.1.1.7 variants among the South African population. With just under 1.6 million confirmed cases, South Africa leads the continent in coronavirus infections. Of those, nearly 55,000 people have died. “It is not surprising that new variants have been detected in South Africa,” said Adrian Puren, the institute’s acting director. “We would like to assure the public that the institute is focusing their resources and research efforts towards understanding the variants and what the potential implications are for South Africa.” The first variant, B.1.617.2, has been detected in four positive cases, the institute said. Two of those are in Gauteng, the most populous province, and home to Johannesburg and Pretoria. South African officials said in a statement that all four known cases of this variant “have been isolated and managed.” and that contract tracing was underway. B.1.617.2 is among the variants currently circulating in India, where the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center says 22.6 million COVID-19 cases have been reported -- though health experts have warned that they believe both cases and deaths are being underreported in India. Officials with the institute said they are now giving higher priority to positive samples from travelers entering South Africa, especially those coming from India. The second variant, B.1.1.7, has been detected in 11 cases, South African officials said. This highly transmissible variant was initially detected in the U.K. Officials urged South Africans to be vigilant, as the nation battles to secure enough vaccines to achieve herd immunity. The nation’s vaccination campaign has moved slowly so far, and to date, just over 382,000 people -- all of them health workers -- have been vaccinated. The next phase of vaccinations is set to begin next week. “We understand that many are suffering from COVID-19 fatigue, and becoming lax in exercising preventative measures,” Puren said. “But for the sake of yourselves and your loved ones, wash or sanitize your hands, wear your masks and maintain physical distance of 1.5 meters from others. Remember to hold gatherings outdoors, or in well ventilated areas and roll up your sleeve once the COVID-19 vaccine becomes available to you.”
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Disease Outbreaks
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Higher education policies in Biden’s first 100 days: What’s been done and proposed
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Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. We are compensated in exchange for placement of sponsored products and, services, or by you clicking on certain links posted on our site. Therefore, this compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear within listing categories. Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. This content is powered by HomeInsurance.com, a licensed insurance producer (NPN: 8781838) and a corporate affiliate of Bankrate.com. HomeInsurance.com LLC services are only available in states were it is licensed and insurance coverage through HomeInsurance.com may not be available in all states. All insurance products are governed by the terms in the applicable insurance policy, and all related decisions (such as approval for coverage, premiums, commissions and fees) and policy obligations are the sole responsibility of the underwriting insurer. The information on this site does not modify any insurance policy terms in any way. In his first 100 days in office, President Joe Biden has made a number of moves toward cheaper college and student loan reform. Millions of qualifying student loan borrowers have already benefited from amendments to federal programs, while even more students could see reduced tuition in the future. Between COVID-19 relief measures and the unveiling of the American Families Plan, Biden’s first 100 days could signal that bigger shifts in higher education and student debt relief are on the way. Through a combination of executive orders and the $1.9 trillion stimulus package in March, Biden has made several moves that help student loan borrowers. As one of his first acts as president, Biden directed the U.S. Department of Education to extend the federal student loan forbearance period to Sept. 30, 2021. This relief was originally set to expire on Jan. 31 of this year. During this time, student loan borrowers are not responsible for making payments on their federal student loans, and interest charges and collection activities are suspended. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona recently said that he doesn’t anticipate a further extension but that it isn’t out of the question. Federal Family Education Loan (FFEL) Program loans and other privately held loans have been excluded from coronavirus relief measures. However, in March, the Department of Education expanded relief to all FFEL loans in default status. Relief is dated retroactively to March 13, 2020, meaning borrowers who have had wages garnished or tax refunds withheld since that date are eligible for refunds. While the forbearance period continues, interest charges and collections activities on those defaulted loans are paused. The $1.9 trillion stimulus package that passed in March — also known as the American Rescue Plan — included a provision that makes federal student loan forgiveness tax-free through 2025. This primarily impacts borrowers with income-driven repayment plans, since forgiven amounts at the end of the program were previously taxable. However, this would also make any large-scale student loan forgiveness tax-free. The stimulus bill also included $40 billion in emergency relief for colleges around the country, meant to help students finish their education and pay for basic necessities. Half of a college’s designated funds must go toward students in the form of emergency financial aid. In May, it was announced that these grants could be distributed to all students, regardless of immigration status. The Biden administration eased documentation requirements for borrower defense to repayment, a federal program that allows borrowers full forgiveness of their student loans if their school closes or engages in illegal or fraudulent activity. Under the Trump administration, approved borrowers often received only partial forgiveness for their loans, or were approved but failed to receive a relief determination at all. The Biden administration’s revised program will reinstate full forgiveness for the roughly 72,000 borrowers affected. The Department of Education announced revisions to the total and permanent disability (TPD) discharge program, waiving documentation requirements while the coronavirus pandemic continues. While the waiver is in place, approved borrowers will not be required to submit the annual income verification typically required in order to maintain their student loan forgiveness. While most of Biden’s actions in his first months in office have been focused on immediate relief, he has released a number of proposals addressing long-term college costs. Biden has proposed raising the maximum Pell Grant award by $1,400 through the American Families Plan. Pell Grants are awarded to undergraduate students and students in postbaccalaureate teacher certification programs based on financial need. The maximum Pell Grant award changes every year but sits at $6,495 for the 2021-22 school year — meaning that students could be eligible for a maximum of $7,895 if the American Families Plan were to pass. As a part of the American Families Plan, Biden has proposed two years of tuition-free community college for eligible students, including students with DACA status. Students would be able to use the benefit over three years or, in some cases, four years. The American Families Plan also outlines a plan to reduce tuition costs for students attending historically Black colleges and universities, tribal colleges and universities and minority-serving institutions. Should the plan take effect, students from families earning less than $125,000 annually would be eligible for two years of subsidized tuition. Biden has also called for additional funding for grant aid to these universities. With the American Families Plan currently under debate, its proposals — including free community college and modified Pell Grants — will likely be the biggest focus in higher education in coming months. The plan’s passage is possible, but it won’t be easy with a divided Congress. These proposals are expensive, large-scale policies, so it could be a difficult journey to sign them into legislation. In the meantime, advocates for student loan reform have continued to push Biden toward the $10,000 student loan forgiveness he suggested in his campaign. Biden recently asked Education Secretary Cardona to oversee a legal review into his authority to cancel student loan debt through an executive order, but the review is still ongoing. Spencer Dixon, policy advisor at Savi, says that if Biden does have the authority, pressure will mount for the administration to exercise it. “Advocates note that this is the closest to cancellation we’ve come,” he says. However, this doesn’t mean that forgiveness is definite. “Like tens of millions of borrowers in this country, we eagerly await the findings of that memo, and the repercussions it will have.” Bankrate.com is an independent, advertising-supported publisher and comparison service. Bankrate is compensated in exchange for featured placement of sponsored products and services, or your clicking on links posted on this website. This compensation may impact how, where and in what order products appear. Bankrate.com does not include all companies or all available products.
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Financial Aid
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Just before four drug companies were set to stand trial over their role in the opioid epidemic, a settlement has been reached
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Just before four drug companies were set to stand trial over their role in the opioid epidemic, a settlement has been reached.
Distributors McKesson Corp., AmerisourceBergen, and Cardinal Health will settle for $215 million with two Ohio counties, with manufacturer Teva Pharmaceuticals also paying $20 million and providing $25 million of anti-addiction medication, The Washington Post reports. This deal came shortly before opening arguments were scheduled to begin in what was to be the first federal opioid trial, the Post notes.
In the case, the plaintiffs had placed blame on the drug companies amid the opioid crisis and argued that "the distributors conspired to flout the federal law that requires them to monitor sales and report outliers," as The New York Times writes. The Monday settlement doesn't include another defendant, Walgreens, and the Post reports its case was postponed. The Ohio counties were seeking $8 billion in the case.
The Wall Street Journal notes that more than 2,300 opioid lawsuits have been brought in federal court, and the settlement announced Monday does "fall short of a more comprehensive deal currently being negotiated to resolve thousands of opioid lawsuits nationwide." Johnson & Johnson previously reached a $20.4 million settlement.
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Sign Agreement
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ServiceNow is acquiring Element AI, the Canadian startup building AI services for enterprises
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ServiceNow, the cloud-based IT services company, is making a significant acquisition today to fill out its longer-term strategy to be a big player in the worlds of automation and artificial intelligence for enterprises. It is acquiring Element AI, a startup out of Canada. Founded by AI pioneers and backed by some of the world’s biggest AI companies — it raised hundreds of millions of dollars from the likes of Microsoft, Intel, Nvidia and Tencent, among others — Element AI’s aim was to build and provision AI-based IT services for enterprises, in many cases organizations that are not technology companies by nature. Terms of the deal are not being disclosed, a spokesperson told TechCrunch, but we now have multiple sources telling us the price was around $500 million. For some context, Element AI was valued at between $600 million and $700 million when it last raised money, $151 million (or C$200 million at the time) in September 2019. Even at $500 million, this deal would be ServiceNow’s biggest acquisition, although it would be a sizeable devaluation compared to the startup’s last price at fundraising. A spokesperson confirmed that ServiceNow is making a full acquisition and will retain most of Element AI’s technical talent, including AI scientists and practitioners, but that it will be winding down its existing business after integrating what it wants and needs. “Our focus with this acquisition is to gain technical talent and AI capabilities,” the spokesperson said. That will also include Element AI co-founder and CEO, JF Gagné, joining ServiceNow, and co-founder Dr. Yoshua Bengio taking on a role as technical advisor. Those who are not part of those teams will be supported with severance or assistance in looking for other jobs within ServiceNow. A source estimated to us that this could affect around half of the organization. The startup is headquartered in Montreal, and ServiceNow’s plan is to create an AI Innovation Hub based around that “to accelerate customer-focused AI innovation in the Now Platform.” (That is the brand name of its automation services.) Last but not least, ServiceNow will start re-platforming some of Element AI’s capabilities, she said. “We expect to wind down most of Element AI’s customers after the deal is closed.” The deal is the latest move for a company aiming to build a modern platform fit for our times. ServiceNow, under CEO Bill McDermott (who joined in October 2019 from SAP), has been on a big investment spree in the name of bringing more AI and automation chops to the SaaS company. That has included a number of acquisitions this year, including Sweagle, Passage AI and Loom (respectively for $25 million, $33 million and $58 million), plus regular updates to its larger workflow automation platform. ServiceNow to acquire Belgian configuration management startup Sweagle ServiceNow has been around since 2004, so it’s not strictly a legacy business, but all the same, the publicly traded company, with a current market cap of nearly $103 billion, is vying to position itself as the go-to company for “digital transformation” — the buzz term for enterprise IT services this year, as everyone scrambles to do more online, in the cloud and remotely to continue operating through a global health pandemic and whatever comes in its wake. “Technology is no longer supporting the business, technology is the business,” McDermott said earlier this year. In a tight market where it is completely plausible that Salesforce might scoop up Slack, ServiceNow is making a play for more tools to cover its own patch of the field. ServiceNow updates its workflow automation platform “AI technology is evolving rapidly as companies race to digitally transform 20th century processes and business models,” said ServiceNow Chief AI Officer Vijay Narayanan, in a statement today. “ServiceNow is leading this once-in-a-generation opportunity to make work, work better for people. With Element AI’s powerful capabilities and world class talent, ServiceNow will empower employees and customers to focus on areas where only humans excel – creative thinking, customer interactions, and unpredictable work. That’s a smarter way to workflow.” Element AI was always a very ambitious concept for a startup. Dr. Yoshua Bengio, winner of the 2018 Turing Award, who co-founded the company with AI expert Nicolas Chapados and Jean-François Gagné (Element AI’s CEO) alongside Anne Martel, Jean-Sebastien Cournoyer and Philippe Beaudoin, saw a gap in the market. Their idea was to build AI services for businesses that were not tech companies in their DNA, but would still very much need to tap into the innovations of the tech world in order to continue growing and remaining competitive with said tech companies as the latter moved deeper into a wider range of industries and the companies themselves required increasing sophistication to operate and grow. They needed, in essence, to disrupt themselves before getting unceremoniously disrupted by someone else. And on top of that, Element AI could work for and with the tech companies taking strategic investments in Element AI, as those investors wanted to tap some of that expertise themselves, as well as work with the startup to bring more services and win more deals in the enterprise. In addition to its four (sometimes fiercely competitive) investors, other backers included the likes of McKinsey. Yet what form all of that would take was never completely clear. When I covered the startup’s most recent tranche of funding last year, I noted that it wasn’t very forthcoming on who its customers actually were. Looking at its website, it still isn’t, although it does lay out several verticals where it aims to work. They include insurance, pharma, logistics, retail, supply chain, manufacturing, government and capital markets. There were some other positive points. Element AI also played a strong ethics card with its AI For Good efforts, starting with work with Amnesty in 2018 and most recently Mozilla. Indeed, 2018 — a year after Element AI was founded — was also the year AI seemed to hit the mainstream consciousness — and also started to appear somewhat more creepy, with algorithmic misfires, pervasive facial recognition and more “automated” applications that didn’t work that well and so on — so launching an ethical aim definitely made sense. But for all of that, it seems that there perhaps were not enough threads there to need a bigger cloth as a standalone business. Glassdoor reviews also speak of an endemic disorganization at the startup, which might not have helped, or was perhaps a sign of bigger issues. “Element AI’s vision has always been to redefine how companies use AI to help people work smarter,” said Element AI founder and CEO, Jean-Francois Gagné in a statement. “ServiceNow is leading the workflow revolution and we are inspired by its purpose to make the world of work, work better for people. ServiceNow is the clear partner for us to apply our talent and technology to the most significant challenges facing the enterprise today.”
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Organization Merge
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Man officers killed minutes after Texas bank holdup was serial robber
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A man whom police officers shot and killed minutes after a holdup at a Texas bank was a serial bank robber, authorities say. Terry Cagle, 73, of Whitesboro, whom Sherman police officers shot and killed minutes after a bank holdup Monday was a serial bank robber, authorities told KXII in Sherman. Cagle, was armed with a replica Beretta BB-style handgun when he robbed the First Texoma National Bank at around 8:15 a.m. Monday. A witness followed Cagle and provided police with information on his location as he changed shirts and license plates on his vehicle, authorities said. That gave police enough time to respond and corner Cagle. A negotiator gave him commands, but Cagle refused to comply and exited his white four-door sedan with the gun, authorities said. The negotiator ordered Cagle several times to put the gun down and walk away from it. Cagle yelled “No”, began to advance and pointed the gun at the officers, forcing them to open fire on the suspect," Sherman police Lt. John Kennemer said in a prepared statement. "The suspect died at the scene. No officers were injured,” he said. Police said evidence located in Cagle's vehicle and home connected him to multiple bank robberies in the Sherman-Denison area dating as far back as 2018. In 2003, Cagle served 30 months in federal prison for bank robbery.
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Bank Robbery
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Solar storm to hit the Earth soon, may affect mobiles, GPS and air travel
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According to the National Weather Service's (NWS), Space Weather Prediction Center, a G-1-class geomagnetic storm was to hit the Earth's atmosphere in July. The same sort of storm occurred around four years ago causing a blackout over the Atlantic region. These storms are not unusual, if you go back in history you will read about many such storms occurring over the years. According to a report by Space Weather, a great storm had hit the Earth in 1582. At that time people felt that the earth was about to end. Soares, a Portuguese writer of that time, wrote, "Only fire was visible in the northern sky for three nights everywhere. Every part of the sky seemed as if it had turned into flames. At midnight, rays of terrible fire emerged which were very terrifying and scary." The storm originated from a hole that has opened up in the Sun's atmosphere. There are concerns this storm may cause a power failure around the world. "A high-speed stream of solar wind that was supposed to arrive on July 11 is almost 3 days overdue... The stream is flowing from a hole in the sun's atmosphere so broad that a miss seems unlikely. The last chance for contact is July 14," Spaceweather.com wrote on its official website. Such storms can also lead to a blackout of high-frequency radio communication for nearly an hour in vast areas. Due to the solar storm, wind speeds could reach 500 km/s, triggering a geomagnetic storm and high latitude auroras. The strong winds can bring geomagnetic storms in the Earth's magnetosphere, which can affect mobiles, GPS, satellite TV, air travel etc.
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New wonders in nature
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UN report: Pandemic year marked by spike in world hunger
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ROME/NEW YORK, 12 July 2021 – There was a dramatic worsening of world hunger in 2020, the United Nations said today – much of it likely related to the fallout of COVID-19. While the pandemic’s impact has yet to be fully mapped, a multi-agency report estimates that around a tenth of the global population – up to 811 million people – were undernourished last year. The number suggests it will take a tremendous effort for the world to honour its pledge to end hunger by 2030. This year’s edition of The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World is the first global assessment of its kind in the pandemic era. The report is jointly published by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the World Health Organization (WHO). Previous editions had already put the world on notice that the food security of millions – many children among them – was at stake. “Unfortunately, the pandemic continues to expose weaknesses in our food systems, which threaten the lives and livelihoods of people around the world,” the heads of the five UN agencies write in this year’s Foreword. They go on to warn of a “critical juncture,” even as they pin fresh hopes on increased diplomatic momentum. “This year offers a unique opportunity for advancing food security and nutrition through transforming food systems with the upcoming UN Food Systems Summit, the Nutrition for Growth Summit and the COP26 on climate change.” “The outcome of these events,” the five add, “will go on to shape the […] second half of the UN Decade of Action on Nutrition” – a global policy commitment yet to hit its stride. The numbers in detail Already in the mid-2010s, hunger had started creeping upwards, dashing hopes of irreversible decline. Disturbingly, in 2020 hunger shot up in both absolute and proportional terms, outpacing population growth: some 9.9 percent of all people are estimated to have been undernourished last year, up from 8.4 percent in 2019. More than half of all undernourished people (418 million) live in Asia; more than a third (282 million) in Africa; and a smaller proportion (60 million) in Latin America and the Caribbean. But the sharpest rise in hunger was in Africa, where the estimated prevalence of undernourishment – at 21 percent of the population – is more than double that of any other region. On other measurements too, the year 2020 was sombre. Overall, more than 2.3 billion people (or 30 percent of the global population) lacked year-round access to adequate food: this indicator – known as the prevalence of moderate or severe food insecurity – leapt in one year as much in as the preceding five combined. Gender inequality deepened: for every 10 food-insecure men, there were 11 food-insecure women in 2020 (up from 10.6 in 2019). Malnutrition persisted in all its forms, with children paying a high price: in 2020, over 149 million under-fives are estimated to have been stunted, or too short for their age; more than 45 million – wasted, or too thin for their height; and nearly 39 million – overweight. A full three-billion adults and children remained locked out of healthy diets, largely due to excessive costs. Nearly a third of women of reproductive age suffer from anaemia. Globally, despite progress in some areas – more infants, for example, are being fed exclusively on breast milk – the world is not on track to achieve targets for any nutrition indicators by 2030. Other hunger and malnutrition drivers In many parts of the world, the pandemic has triggered brutal recessions and jeopardized access to food. Yet even before the pandemic, hunger was spreading; progress on malnutrition lagged. This was all the more so in nations affected by conflict, climate extremes or other economic downturns, or battling high inequality – all of which the report identifies as major drivers of food insecurity, which in turn interact. On current trends, The State of Food Security and Nutrition in the World estimates that Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger by 2030) will be missed by a margin of nearly 660 million people. Of these 660 million, some 30 million may be linked to the pandemic’s lasting effects. What can (still) be done As outlined in last year’s report, transforming food systems is essential to achieve food security, improve nutrition and put healthy diets within reach of all. This year’s edition goes further to outline six “transformation pathways”. These, the authors say, rely on a “coherent set of policy and investment portfolios” to counteract the hunger and malnutrition drivers. Depending on the particular driver (or combination of drivers) confronting each country, the report urges policymakers to: The report also calls for an “enabling environment of governance mechanisms and institutions” to make transformation possible. It enjoins policymakers to consult widely; to empower women and youth; and to expand the availability of data and new technologies. Above all, the authors urge, the world must act now – or watch the drivers of hunger and malnutrition recur with growing intensity in coming years, long after the shock of the pandemic has passed. Additional resources for media. UNICEF works in some of the world’s toughest places, to reach the world’s most disadvantaged children. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we work for every child, everywhere, to build a better world for everyone. Follow UNICEF on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube In Bangladesh, UNICEF volunteers are helping ensure COVID-19 vaccines reach as many people as possible More than 45,000 children released from detention during COVID-19 pandemic; evidence that child-friendly justice solutions are possible – UNICEF
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Famine
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Explained: What UNESCO heritage site Dholavira tells us about Indus Valley Civilisation
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Dholavira, the archaeological site of a Harappan-era city, received the UNESCO world heritage site tag on Tuesday. While Dholavira became the fourth site from Gujarat and 40th from India to make the list, it is the first site of the ancient Indus Valley Civilisation (IVC) in India to get the tag. The IVC acropolis is located on a hillock near present-day Dholavira village in Kutch district, from which it gets its name. It was discovered in 1968 by archaeologist Jagat Pati Joshi. The site’s excavation between 1990 and 2005 under the supervision of archaeologist Ravindra Singh Bisht uncovered the ancient city, which was a commercial and manufacturing hub for about 1,500 years before its decline and eventual ruin in 1500 BC. After Mohen-jo-Daro, Ganweriwala and Harappa in Pakistan and Rakhigarhi in Haryana of India, Dholavira is the fifth largest metropolis of IVC. The site has a fortified citadel, a middle town and a lower town with walls made of sandstone or limestone instead of mud bricks in many other Harappan sites. Archaeologist Bisht cites a cascading series of water reservoirs, outer fortification, two multi-purpose grounds — one of which was used for festivities and as a marketplace — nine gates with unique designs, and funerary architecture featuring tumulus — hemispherical structures like the Buddhist Stupas— as some of the unique features of the Dholavira site. He says that one finds the origin of the Buddhist Stupas in memorials in Dholavira. While unlike graves at other IVC sites, no mortal remains of humans have been discovered at Dholavira. Bisht says memorials that contain no bones or ashes but offerings of precious stones, etc. add a new dimension to the personality of the Harappans. Remains of a copper smelter indicate of Harappans, who lived in Dholavira, knew metallurgy. It is believed that traders of Dholavira used to source copper ore from present-day Rajasthan and Oman and UAE and export finished products. It was also a hub of manufacturing jewellery made of shells and semi-precious stones, like agate and used to export timber. Bisht says that such beads peculiar to the Harappan workmanship have been found in the royal graves of Mesopotamia, indicating Dholavira used to trade with the Mesopotamians. Its decline also coincided with the collapse of Mesopotamia, indicating the integration of economies. Harappans, who were maritime people, lost a huge market, affecting the local mining, manufacturing, marketing and export businesses once Mesopotamia fell. He further says that from 2000 BC, Dholavira entered a phase of severe aridity due to climate change and rivers like Saraswati drying up. Because of a drought-like situation, people started migrating toward the Ganges valley or towards south Gujarat and further beyond in Maharashtra. In those times, Bisht says, the Great Rann of Kutch, which surrounds the Khadir island on which Dholavira is located, used to be navigable, but the sea receded gradually and the Rann became a mudflat. Before Dholavira was excavated, Lothal, in Saragwala village on the bank of Sabarmati in Dholka taluka of Ahmedabad district, was the most prominent site of IVC in Gujarat. It was excavated between 1955 and 1960 and was discovered to be an important port city of the ancient civilisation, with structures made of mud bricks. From a graveyard in Lothal, 21 human skeletons were found. Foundries for making copperware were also discovered. Ornaments made of semi-precious stones, gold etc. were also found from the site. Besides Lothal, Rangpur on the bank of Bhadar river in Surendranagar district was the first Harappan site in the state to be excavated. Rojdi in Rajkot district, Prabhas near Veraval in Gir Somnath district, Lakhabaval in Jamnagar, and Deshalpar in Bhuj taluka of Kutch are among other Harappan sites in the state. Newsletter | Click to get the day’s best explainers in your inbox Though it was excavated recently, the Dholavira site has remained free from encroachment in historical periods as well as in the modern era. Bisht says the UNESCO listing became possible because the site was found free from any kind of encroachment, a rarity in India. In its release, UNESCO termed Dholavira as one of the most remarkable and well-preserved urban settlements in South Asia dating from the 3rd to mid-2nd millennium BCE (Before Common Era). Since the excavation at the site, the ASI has developed a museum here. Dholavira, a village with a population of around 2,000, is the nearest human settlement at present. Near the ancient city is a fossil park where wood fossils are preserved.
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New archeological discoveries
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1964 Monson Motor Lodge protests
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The 1964 Monson Motor Lodge protest was part of a series of events during the civil rights movement in the United States which occurred on June 18, 1964, at the Monson Motor Lodge in St. Augustine, Florida. The campaign in June – July 1964 was led by Robert Hayling, Martin Luther King Jr., Ralph Abernathy, Andrew Young, Hosea Williams, C. T. Vivian, Fred Shuttlesworth, among others. St. Augustine was chosen to be the next battleground against racial segregation on account of it being both highly racist yet also relying heavily on the northern tourism dollar. Furthermore, the city was due to celebrate its 400th anniversary the following year, which would heighten the campaign's profile even more. Nightly marches were organized to the Slave market, which were regularly attacked and the marchers were beaten. Meanwhile, the civil rights bill was being filibustered in the U.S. Senate. On June 10, the filibuster collapsed. The following day, King was arrested in St. Augustine. King had attempted to be served lunch at the Monson Motor Lodge, but the owner, James Brock—who was also the president of the St. Augustine Hotel, Motel, and Restaurant Owners Association—refused to serve him. King was arrested for trespass and jailed; while imprisoned, he wrote a letter to leading Jewish reformer, Rabbi Israel Dresner, urging him to recruit rabbis to come to St. Augustine and take part in the movement. This they did, and at another confrontation at the Monson, 17 rabbis were arrested on June 18. This was the largest mass arrest of rabbis in American history. At the same time, a group of black and white activists, protesters who had arrived from Albany, Georgia, JT Johnson, Brenda Darten, and Mamie Nell Ford, jumped into the Monson's swimming pool. Brock—by now on edge from the constant picketing of his business—appeared to pour hydrochloric acid into the pool to burn the protesters. Photographs of this, and of a policeman jumping into the pool in everything but his shoes to arrest them, made headline news around the world. By now the Civil Rights Act had been passed, but St. Augustine businesses—particularly in the restaurant and culinary trades—were slow at desegregating. Eventually the courts forced Brock and his colleagues to integrate their businesses, and soon after he did, the Monson was firebombed by the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), who violently opposed desegregation. The state judge was unsympathetic to his predicament, however, feeling that Brock and his colleagues had brought the violence of the KKK upon themselves; they had taken advantage of it while it was in their favor, and could not stop it now that it was not. On June 30, Florida Governor Farris Bryant announced the formation of a biracial committee to restore interracial communication in St. Augustine. Although the Civil Rights Act had passed, there were further problems for both Brock personally and Florida particularly. He had been repeatedly refused bank loans to pay for the damage caused by the protests, and declared himself bankrupt the following year. Also in 1965, although the city celebrated its quadricentennial, there was still a palpable underlying racial tension; the tourist trade had been badly damaged and it has been estimated that St. Augustine lost millions of dollars in tourism. Hotel, motels, and restaurants were especially badly hit. St. Augustine, Florida, a beautiful town and our nation’s oldest city, was the scene of raging tempers, flaring violence, and the most corrupt coalition of segregationist opposition outside of Mississippi. It was a stronghold of the Ku Klux Klan and the John Birch Society. There the Klan made a last-ditch stand against the nonviolent movement. They flocked to St. Augustine’s Slave Market Plaza from all across north Florida, Georgia, and Alabama. Klansmen abducted four Negroes and beat them unconscious with clubs, ax handles, and pistol butts...St. Augustine was a testing ground. Can the Deep South change? Could southern states maintain law and order in the face of change? Could local citizens, black and white, work together to make democracy a reality throughout America? [1]
Martin Luther King on St. Augustine, Florida
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) had decided to renew their campaign against segregation,[2] and give "new dignity to the movement". [3][note 1] The leadership was originally divided on where to target. James Bevel, for example, wanted to focus on one state—Alabama—whereas Hosea Williams advocated the Floridian seaside holiday town of St. Augustine. [5] St. Augustine was approaching its 400th anniversary. [note 2] Although much smaller than previous civil rights battlegrounds, such as Birmingham, Alabama, it was no less—and probably more—violently segregated, argues author Jim Bishop. Unlike Birmingham, racial power lay not with the mayor and chief of police, he says, but in[11]
H. E. Wolf, banker and bigwig in the Democratic Party; it was the St. Augustine Record, a mirror for white faces; it was an organization called the Ancient City Hunting Club, composed of rifle experts who sometimes made a sport of hunting two-legged "coons." Politics was divided between two political groups: the far right and the ultra-far right. Anyone who was plain right risked being called a Communist. [11]
For King—recently named Time Magazine's Man of the Year[12]—it was his preferred choice of "non-violent battlefield" for "expos[ing] Klan savagery to the eyes of the world". [2] It was a highly segregated town, argues the author Thomas E. Jackson, and its celebrations would be restricted to whites only. It was deliberately chosen, continues Jackson, as it had "a business elite vulnerable to negative publicity because it was dependent on northern tourist dollars, a police force with close ties to the Klan, and a reputation for brutal extralegal violence". [13] Social ethicist and theologian Gary Dorrien has described St. Augustine as Florida's "most violently racist city...a Klan stronghold policed by unabashedly racist thugs", where "Blacks who tried to enroll their children in public schools got their homes bombed". [5] scholar Stephen B. Oates says of St. Augustine's law enforcement:[9] However, suggests Webb, this was known to be a dangerous strategy. The Florida Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights informed them that St. Augustine was a "segregated superbomb...with an extremely short fuse". [10]
Here Sheriff L. O. Davis, "a buffoonish, burly, thuggish man", employed an auxiliary force of one hundred deputies, many of them prominent Klansmen, to "keep the niggers in line." Here barrel-chested Hoisted "Hoss" Manucy, dressed in cowboy paraphernalia, led a bunch of Klan-style bullyboys who called themselves the Ancient City Gun Club. They patrolled the county in radio cars with Confederate flags on their antennas. harassing Negroes at will.
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Protest_Online Condemnation
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2011 Macedonian protests
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The 2011 Macedonian protests against police brutality or simply 2011 Macedonian protests were demonstrations that started on 6 June 2011 as а result of the murder of the 21-year-old Martin Neškoski, who was beaten to death by Igor Spasov, a member of the special police forces Tigri. [1]
In the early morning hours of 6 June 2011, while the ruling party celebrated its early election victory in the main square in the capital, Skopje, 21-year-old Martin Neškoski, unarmed and celebrating the victory, was beaten to death by a member of the special forces 'Tigers' charged with securing the celebrations and protecting the Prime Minister. His body was covered up with cardboard and left, as if nothing had happened. However, since his killing had been witnessed by scores of people, it was publicized via Twitter. The following day, the Ministry of the Interior made no mention of the brutal killing and stated that they had no report of a killing. When asked by reporters about the ‘tweets’, both the Minister of the Interior, and her spokesperson, spoke in contradictions, lies and deceit. That was the last straw, as that evening some 250 people gathered spontaneously in the centre of the city and held a quiet protest, sitting down on the asphalt on one the city’s main arteries. The following day, a Facebook event invited people to symbolically protest against police brutality in front of the Mother Theresa Memorial House, where some 800 people peacefully protested and then marched through the streets with banners saying: “We want Justice”, “STOP Police Brutality” and “Enough Silence – Speak Up”. A few days later, on 10 June, a public holiday, between five and seven thousand took to the streets. There are no organisers, no hierarchy; it is a horizontally structured citizens’ movement. Everyone that has protested is a leader in their own right. Many celebrities (artists, musicians, politicians etc.) showed up and marched on the streets. Many of them sent their video messages supporting the protests against police brutality. Petar Stojkoviḱ, an actor, was among the most active ones in the media. He also took part in a public hearing held in the European Parliament (Brussels, 2011) where he shared his experience from the protests regarding the media coverage and spoke publicly about the pressures to silence the press and the attempts by the Macedonian government to cover up the truth for the murder of Martin Neškoski. [2][3]
The protests were held every day throughout June, and some of July. The protesters met at 18:00 at the Mother Theresa Memorial House, and then proceeded to march along the main arteries of the capital Skopje, blocking all traffic, until reaching one of the state institutions (Parliament, High Court, Ministry of the Interior), where they would peacefully sit down, chant and holds minute silences out of respect for the murdered young man. Unfortunately, there were no MPs in Parliament during the protests because of the elections (the night of which the murder occurred), but big demonstrations took place on the day that Parliament re-convened. More protests are planned for the first day of the new parliament. The daily demonstrations have died down somewhat, due to many reasons (such as the fact that it is high summer, very hot and very few people are in Skopje), but the original Protest Against Police Brutality has turned into a citizens movement, with different groups independently working on monitoring the work of politicians in the country, something that is very necessary and of crucial importance to this Balkan state.
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Protest_Online Condemnation
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1911 Liverpool general transport strike
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The 1911 Liverpool general transport strike, also known as the great transport workers' strike, involved dockers, railway workers and sailors, as well people from other trades. It paralysed Liverpool commerce for most of the summer of 1911. It also transformed trade unionism on Merseyside. For the first time, general trade unions were able to establish themselves on a permanent footing and become genuine mass organisations of the working class. Strike action began on 14 June when the National Sailors' and Firemen's Union announced a nationwide merchant seamen's strike. Solidarity action in support of the seamen led to other sections of workers coming out on strike. A strike committee – chaired by syndicalist Tom Mann – was formed to represent all the workers in dispute. Many meetings were held on St. George's Plateau, next to St. George’s Hall on Lime Street, including the rally on 13 August where police baton charged a crowd of 85,000 people, who had gathered to hear Tom Mann speak. [1] This became known as "Bloody Sunday". In the police charges and subsequent unrest that carried on through the following night, over 350 people were injured. 3,500 British troops were stationed in the city by this time. Two days later, soldiers of the 18th Hussars opened fire on a crowd on Vauxhall Road, injuring fifteen, two fatally: John Sutcliffe, a 19-year-old Catholic carter, was shot twice in the head, and Michael Prendergast, a 30-year-old Catholic docker, was shot twice in the chest. An inquest into their deaths later brought in a verdict of 'justifiable homicide'. [2]
Home Secretary Winston Churchill sent in troops and positioned the cruiser HMS Antrim in the Mersey. [3]
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Strike
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2021 Warrior Met Coal strike
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The 2021 Warrior Met Coal strike is an ongoing labor strike in Alabama, United States. The strike began on April 1, 2021 and involves members of the United Mine Workers of America striking against Warrior Met Coal Inc. Warrior Met was formed after the bankruptcy of Walter Energy and operates coal mining facilities in the state. The strike is over the failure of the union and company to agree to a labor contract for the approximately 1,100 union members who work for Warrior Met. Warrior Met Coal Inc. is a coal mining company that operates several mines in Alabama, including near Brookwood[1] and Bessemer. [2] Warrior Met was formed to buy the assets of Walter Energy after that company declared bankruptcy in 2015, and in the aftermath, many of the workers lost job benefits and labor contracts they had had with Walter. [3] In 2019, the company reported a net income of $302 million. [4] However, the following year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the company reported a $35 million loss. [4] Of the 1,400 workers at Warrior Met,[2] approximately 1,100 are members of the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA) District 20. [3] On April 1, 2021, the labor contract between the UMWA and Warrior Met was set to expire,[1] and in the weeks leading up to this, both sides entered into negotiations over the terms of the next contract. [5] However, these negotiations proved fruitless, as neither side could agree to the terms of a contract. [6] According to a later report, the union was seeking higher wages, better scheduling, and additional time off for their members. [3] Discussing Warrior Met, a union representative claimed that the company had a poor labor-management relationship and accused the company of generating millions in profit and giving management over $35,000 in bonuses while not agreeing to fair terms on a contract. [6] In response, the company stated that they were offering competitive benefits for the workers. They also stated that they had been bargaining in good faith with the union. [2] On March 31, the UMWA issued a strike notice for strike action starting the next day. Additionally, the union filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board over the company's conduct during negotiations. [6]
The strike began at 10 p.m. on April 1, with strikers picketing outside Warrior Met facilities. [5] During the course of the strike, dues-paying union members who participate in strike activities will receive a bi-weekly strike pay, and the union was seeking to provide health care coverage during the strike. [2] The families of strikers saw an immediate loss of company health care coverage due to the strike action. [7] On April 5, it was announced that a tentative agreement between the union and company had been reached that could end the strike, with a vote scheduled for April 9. [2] On April 7, meetings were held to explain the provisions of the agreement to the union members. [8] While details were not made publicly available, one union member stated that the company was offering a $1.50 hourly raise, with $1 immediately and $0.50 after 3 years. [2] On April 9, members voted to reject the proposal and continue the strike,[4] with UMWA president Cecil Roberts stating that the company's offer was "not sufficient" for the strikers. [2]
On May 7, Gizmodo reported that two creeks in Alabama were flowing with an abundance of wastewater runoff from the mines. Union representatives did not draw a direct connection between the strike and the runoff, but one did say "when the normal workforce is working in that mind [sic] you don’t see these sorts of things happening. … These things don’t happen so much when the UMWA workforce is in these mines. "[3] On May 14, between 30 to 40 strikers held a sit-in outside of the company's headquarters in Brookwood, blocking traffic entering and exiting the parking lot before police arrived. [9] At this point in the strike, the union was holding weekly rallies on Wednesdays at the Tannehill State Park. [9] On May 22, the Alabama Strike Fest, a benefit concert aimed at helping the strikers, was held at the union hall and featured performances by Mike Cooley of the band Drive-By Truckers and several union members. [10][11] On May 25, 11 strikers were arrested for trespassing during a protest at a Warrior Met mine in Tuscaloosa County. [12]
On June 7, the UMWA released a statement sharing that three incidents of "vehicular assault" had occurred on their picket lines. UMWA President, Cecil Roberts called on Warrior Met "to back away from violence and finally come to the bargaining table in good faith". He continued, saying that "if Warrior Met decides to continue inspiring violence on the picket lines, their leadership should understand that UMWA members have been subjected to company violence for 131 years and will not be deterred from seeking a fair contract for them and their families. "[13]
On June 22, striking Warrior Met employees protested outside of the New York City offices of the three hedge funds that own shares in Warrior Met, BlackRock (13%), State Street Global Advisors (11%), and Renaissance Technologies (4%). The group protested at BlackRock's offices first in the morning and then split into two groups to protest at SSGA and Renaissance Technologies' offices at in the afternoon. Their afternoon protests were cut short because of rainy weather. [14]
Another protest in New York City took place on the 28th of July, also outside BlackRock offices, and involved over a 100 people. [15][16] Protesters were seen carrying signs that read "we are one", chanting in unison and speaking out against their treatment by the coal company. [15]
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Strike
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Garuda Indonesia Flight 035 crash
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Garuda Indonesia Flight 035 was a domestic Garuda Indonesia flight that struck a pylon and crashed on approach to Medan-Polonia Airport on 4 April 1987. [1] 23 of the 45 passengers and crew on board were killed in the accident. The aircraft was on an Instrument Landing System approach to Medan Airport in a thunderstorm. [2] The aircraft struck electrical power lines and crashed short of the runway. The aircraft broke up and the tail section separated and fire broke out. [3]
Most of the survivors escaped through breaks in the fuselage and 11 were flung free of the aircraft. [3] Four of the eight crew died and 19 passengers suffered fatal injuries due to smoke inhalation and burns. [3] Four crew and 18 passengers suffered serious injuries. [3] All of the fatalities were a result of the fire and not due to the impact with the ground. [3]
The flight was carried out by a 1976-built Douglas DC-9-32 registered PK-GNQ. The aircraft was damaged beyond repair. [4] This registration was later given to a Boeing 737-800.
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Air crash
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Aeroflot Flight 3630 crash
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Aeroflot Flight 3630 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight operated by Aeroflot from Mineralnye Vody Airport to Vilnius Airport with a stop over at Rostov-on-Don Airport. On 2 September 1970, the Tu-124 operating this flight crashed after a loss of control at cruise altitude, 42 minutes after take off from Rostov-on-Don Airport. All 32 passengers and five crew members were killed. The Air Accident Investigation Commission was unable to discover the root cause of the accident. After a brief stopover, Flight 3630 departed Rostov-on-Don Airport at 14:55 Moscow time and at 15:14 reported passing over Donetsk at 8,400 meters. A short time later air traffic control (ATC) requested a rapid climb to 9,000 meters to avoid traffic and at 15:16 the flight reported reaching 9,000 meters. At 15:31 the crew contacted ATC announcing in a calm tone their ground speed was 852 km/h and that they expected to pass over Kremenchug at 15:41. Then at 15:37 controllers received a short message from flight 3630 consisting of "Forty Five - Zero - Twelve" with the word twelve spoken with a frantic inflection. This was the last contact with the flight. The aircraft entered a steep pitch down as it rolled left, striking the ground at approximately a 70 degree angle at 950km/h. [1][2]
Construction of the Tu-124 involved, serial number 1350402 04-02, was completed at production factory 135 in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on 30 September 1961 and it was transferred to the civil air fleet. At the time of the accident, the aircraft had sustained a total of 7,504 flight hours and 6,996 cycles. [1]
The aircraft created a deep cone-shaped crater at impact, destroying much of the airframe. The flight data recorder was damaged beyond recovery of any data but the Air Accident Investigation Commission were able to determine that the engines were set to idle power, the flaps, spoilers and landing gear were all in the retracted position and that rudder trim was full right with the left aileron trim full up. [1][2]
Weather along the flight route was calm and ruled out as a possible cause. [1]
Investigators looked into the possibility that the aircraft collided in flight with an unmanned military vehicle or a weather balloon but no evidence surfaced. The commission found no evidence of an in flight aircraft failure or structural break up. The right engine and other sections of the aircraft displayed damage due to fire and investigators considered that a fire in flight may have caused the accident. An examination of the victims found no smoke had been inhaled and further analysis of the crash site determined all fire damage occurred during the post crash fire so this possibility was ruled out. [1][2]
The investigators were able to conclude that full deflection of the rudder and left aileron trim would have significant effects on control of the aircraft at cruising speed but the chain of events leading to the accident was never determined. [1][2]
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Air crash
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TWA Flight 513 crash
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TWA Flight 513, registration NC86513, Star of Lisbon, was a Lockheed L-049 Constellation operated by Transcontinental and Western Air on a training flight on July 11, 1946 Reading, Pennsylvania. Electrical wiring in the baggage compartment arced, starting a fire. The smoke and intense fire created made it impossible for the pilots to maintain control of the aircraft. Of the six crewmembers aboard, five were killed. This accident is memorable for grounding all Lockheed Constellations from July 12 until August 23, 1946 when cargo fire detection equipment could be installed.
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Air crash
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Many Still Missing in Atami Mudslide as Search and Rescue Operations Continue
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Teams from police and fire departments alongside troops from Japan’s Self-Defence Force continue to search through mud and debris looking for the many people still feared missing in the mudslide that struck the coastal city of Atami in Japan on 03 July 201. Search and rescue operation after the mudslide in Atami, Japan 03 July 2021. Search and rescue (SAR) operations involving of over 1,000 personnel, sniffer dogs and drones, have been ongoing for more than 80 hours. Two fatalities were reported on 03 July. Since then 3 more bodies have been located, bringing the total of fatalities to five. As of 06 July, between 25 and 29 people were still unaccounted for. The disaster occurred after torrential rainfall in the area pushed mud and debris down slopes surrounding the seaside city of Atami in the district of Itazuma in Shizuoka Prefecture. More than 120 homes have been damaged or destroyed. Japan’s Geospatial Information Authority released the aerial photographs of the site showing that the debris flow travelled a significant distance from slopes above Atami before widening and crashing through homes and streets of the city below. Search and rescue operation after the mudslide in Atami, Japan 03 July 2021.
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Mudslides
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White rhino rescued in Zimbabwe after tyre gets stuck around horn
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Vets from Aware Trust Zimbabwe have rescued a white rhino after it trapped its snout in a washed-up car tyre.
The rhino, a dominant bull named Mark, was unable to eat or drink with the tyre trapped around its snout.
Park rangers called vets after the rhino was unable to free itself.
The vets from Aware Trust, Keith and Lisa, travelled one-and-a-half hours to get to Mark. The lake near where the rhino was grazing is known for being polluted and its banks are regularly littered with nets and tyres. According to Aware Trust, the muscles a rhino uses to open its mouth are much weaker than those used to close it.
In order to free the animal safely, the vets were forced to use a tranquiliser dart.
"We found Mark, the dominant bull, lying close to his girlfriends, looking decidedly dejected and exhausted from his ordeal on this scorching hot day," Aware Trust Zimbabwe said in a Facebook post.
"Fortunately the tyre came off in a few minutes with man power, and we did not have to resort to cutting through it.
"Eleven minutes later he was antidoted (sic) and grazing again as if nothing had happened."
)
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Environment Pollution
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1989 IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships
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The 1989 IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships was the seventh edition of the annual international road running competition organised by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF). The competition was hosted by Brazil on 24 September 1989 in Rio de Janeiro and featured one race only: a 15K run for women. There were individual and team awards available, with the national team rankings being decided by the combined finishing positions of a team's top three runners. Countries with fewer than three finishers were not ranked. [1]
The race was won by Wang Xiuting of China, who had been runner-up to Ingrid Kristiansen the previous year. She ran 49:34 minutes to finish ten seconds ahead of the runner-up, teammate Zhong Huandi, with former champion Aurora Cunha of Portugal in third place. With Wang Huabi in seventh, the Chinese team achieved a championship record-low score of ten points. The Portuguese women achieved the lowest non-winning score in championship history, with 15 points, with Cunha being followed home by fourth placed Albertina Machado and Albertina Dias in eighth. Showing the dominance of the race by a handful of nations, a Yekaterina Khramenkova-led Soviet Union also achieved the lowest ever score for third place on 24 points. [2]
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Sports Competition
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2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship
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The 2010 Wheelchair Basketball World Championship was held in Birmingham, Great Britain from 7 to 17 July 2010. Both the men's and women's tournaments were held. The Championships was a qualifying event for the London 2012 Paralympic Games. [1]
Dylan Alcott
Jeremy Doyle
Justin Eveson
Michael Hartnett
Tristan Knowles
Bill Latham
John Mcphail
Grant Mizens
Brad Ness
Shaun Norris
Tige Simmons
Brett Stibners
Coach: Ben Ettridge
Laurent Blasczak
Audrey Cayol
Jerome Courneil
Roger Deda
Jerome Duran
Franck Etavard
Frederic Guyot
Nicolas Jouanserre
David Levrat
Bertrand Libman
Sofyane Mehiaoui
Ludovic Sarron
Coach: Franck Belen
Eric Barber
Joseph Chambers
Jacob Counts
Nathan Hinze
Jeremy Lade
Matthew Lesperance
Jason Nelms
Michael Paye
Paul Schulte
Matthew Scott
Steve Serio
William Waller
Coach: James Glatch
Sarah Castle
Jennifer Chew
Carlee Hoffman
Darlene Hunter
Mary Allison Milford
Caitlin Mcdermott
Desiree Miller
Rebecca Murray
Christina Ripp
Natalie Schneider
Stephanie Wheeler
Andrea Woodson-Smith
Coach: David Kiley
Mareike Adermann
Silke Bleifuß
Annabel Breuer
Heike Friedrich
Simone Kues
Maria Kühn
Maya Lindholm
Birgit Meitner
Marina Mohnen
Edina Müller
Gesche Schünemann
Annika Zeyen
Coach: Holger Glinicki
Marni Abbott-Peter
Elaine Allard
Chantal Benoit
Tracey Ferguson
Tara Feser
Katie Harnock
Nancy Lafleche
Janet McLachlan
Kendra Ohama
Cindy Ouellet
Jessica Vliegenthart
Elisha Williams
Coach: Bill Johnson
Each of the 12 men's and 10 women's teams selected a squad of 12 players for the tournament. Athletes are given an eight-level-score specific to wheelchair basketball, ranging from 0.5 to 4.5. Lower scores represent a higher degree of disability. [2] The sum score of all players on the court cannot exceed 14. All times local (UTC)
All times local (UTC)
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Sports Competition
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Fueled by climate change, costly Southwest drought isn’t going away
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With absent rainy seasons, depleted snowpack, widespread heat waves, unprecedented wildfires and low reservoirs, the American West has experienced an extraordinary drought since early 2020. To inform and prepare Americans for droughts like this one, three questions are critical to answer: How bad is this drought? What caused it? When will it end? In a report released Wednesday that we wrote for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, we found that this drought was triggered by an exceptional multi-season period of low rain and snowfall. The drought was intensified by extreme temperatures fueled by climate change that dried out soils, rivers and vegetation. It is projected to cause tens of billions of dollars in impacts. The intense 2020 and 2021 wildfire seasons, Western heat waves, and profound challenges to energy, water and recreational sectors are interconnected with this drought, which is anticipated to last into 2022, and potentially beyond. Drought occurs when the supply of water cannot meet demand and is typically caused by a period of low precipitation. Droughts often intensify themselves — as soils dry because of a lack of precipitation, the air warms, which can increase snowmelt and further desiccate soils, rivers, vegetation and reservoirs. A warmer atmosphere evaporates more water from the ground. Our report, coordinated through NOAA’s Drought Task Force and the National Integrated Drought Information System, demonstrates that the past 20 months of precipitation and temperature in the Southwest have been truly extreme. In particular, the report documents how successive dry winter seasons in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, together with a failed 2020 summer southwestern monsoon, led precipitation totals since January 2020 to be the lowest on record since at least 1895 over the entirety of the Southwest. At the same time, temperatures across the six states considered in the report (Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico and Utah) were at their third highest on record. Together, the exceptionally low precipitation and warm temperatures reduced snowpack and increased evaporation of soil moisture, leading to a persistent and widespread drought over most of the American West. Wildfires have been a major consequence of this drought. The 2020 wildfire season burned more than 10 million acres, with exceptionally large areas burned in California, Colorado and Arizona. This year, wildfire risk has been centered on California, but the fires there have been intense enough to pollute the air on the other side of the country, and beyond. With the nation’s wildfire resources fully committed to fighting fires by mid-July, 2021 has rivaled 2020 as an extremely costly and lengthy wildfire season. Moreover, many surface water reservoirs, which store water and are designed to buffer periods of drought, dropped to historic lows: about 57 percent of average spring capacity across all six states, leading into summer, when water demands peak. Such historically low reservoir levels throughout the Southwest have led to electricity blackouts amid record-setting heat waves as electricity demand is at its highest because of air conditioning. Depleted by drought, Lakes Powell and Mead were doomed from the beginning As the economy recovers from the coronavirus pandemic, the low reservoir levels also disrupt fishing and recreation (as boat launches close in national parks, for example), slowing recovery for many tourism-based economies. In fact, the immediate economic losses associated with the drought for 2020 alone are approximately between $515 million and $1.3 billion, not including losses from associated wildfires, which raises the costs to be between $11.4 billion and $23 billion. The total cost of an event like this will take years to estimate, as drought impacts are felt deeply and broadly throughout the national economy. The report examined both precipitation and temperature to answer this question. On precipitation, the report found that the 2020-21 Southwestern drought was initially triggered by an unfortunate (and, most likely, natural) sequence of low-precipitation seasons beginning in 2020, but then was made much worse by both natural and, in particular, human-caused warming. Both observations and climate model simulations suggest that randomness in atmospheric circulation was the main cause of the initial precipitation declines. Conditions in the remote oceans have a significant effect on weather and climate in the United States. In the case of this drought, cooler-than-average sea surface temperatures in the tropical Pacific and warmer-than-average sea surface temperatures in the tropical Atlantic also may have depressed precipitation in some seasons and regions. But the report found that the incredibly warm air temperatures the Southwest experienced in 2020 and so far in 2021 far exceeded those that can be explained by random year-to-year variations in climate. While the extremely low precipitation and resulting dry soils contributed to these high temperatures, it is virtually certain that warming driven by greenhouse gas emissions played a major role in making this drought so severe and widespread. Beyond evaporating water in soils, rivers and plants more quickly, such high temperatures from regional warming accelerated melting of mountain snowpack so crucial to water supplies in Western U.S. basins. To make its claims, the report presents an analysis of observations and 33 coupled state-of-the-art computer models, assessing the role of greenhouse gas-driven warming on the temperature and precipitation that occurred during 2020 and 2021. The results show that the exceptional temperatures helped drive significant vapor pressure deficits, a key variable that measures the atmospheric thirst for moisture from the land. The vapor pressure deficits observed in 2020 were essentially impossible in the climate before 2000. Such extraordinary atmospheric moisture demand has been made more likely by the warming from greenhouse gas emissions. Seasonal outlooks and the onset of a La Niña event in the tropical Pacific mean that it is unlikely that winter precipitation in the Southwest will be plentiful enough to end the drought. As such, it is expected that dry and warm conditions will persist into 2022, and perhaps longer. Even if precipitation returns this winter, it will take several wet (and preferably cooler) years to make up for the water shortage in reservoirs and rivers to fully end the drought across the region. Arizona provides a case in point — the state enjoyed a particularly wet summer monsoon this year, which improved the drought conditions measurably. However, 87 percent of the state is still in drought, with 40 percent of the state in severe or worse drought conditions. How a ‘hyper’ Southwest monsoon season has featured forecasting fits and feats While several seasons of above-average rainfall and high-elevation snowpack can help the Southwest eventually emerge from the drought, there is still the future to consider. This extraordinary drought is just the latest expression of a longer-term aridification the region is undergoing because of both natural long-term variations in precipitation as well as greenhouse-gas-induced warming. For example, flows in the Colorado River have been declining steadily over the past 20 years and had approached the threshold for a basin-wide water shortage declaration even before this drought first emerged. With continued warming, the atmospheric demand for soil moisture will increase unabated, making even randomly occurring low or near-normal precipitation years a more sensitive drought trigger — meaning droughts like this one will happen more often. In fact, the report shows, based on projections from the latest group of climate model simulations provided in support of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, that the record-high vapor-pressure deficit seen in this exceptional drought would occur more than once a decade by 2030-2050. What is clear is that the long-term increase of vapor-pressure deficit and associated aridity over the Southwest United States will not end without curbing greenhouse gas emissions. Extreme weather tormenting the planet will worsen because of global warming, U.N. panel finds While 2020-21 was an exceptional period of low precipitation, the drought that has emerged is a harbinger of a future that the more arid Southwest must take steps to manage. Fu is a professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of California at Los Angeles; Simpson is a climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research; Mankin is a professor of climate variability and change at Dartmouth College; Hoell is a climate scientist at NOAA; and Barrie is climate program manager at NOAA.
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Droughts
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Don’t expect regional organizations to rein in coups
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With mounting pressures from the United Nations and the risk of retreat from others in the international community, many countries expect these regional organizations to do more to prevent unconstitutional changes in government. However, our research shows how established organizational cultures and principles temper the ASEAN and ECOWAS responses to the coups — and how that might unintentionally benefit coup leaders. Myanmar coup tests ASEAN The coup in Myanmar and violent crackdown by the military junta now in power — and the country’s growing risk of economic and humanitarian catastrophe — are a litmus test for ASEAN. How is the organization handling its most severe challenge in decades? ASEAN’s active response is rather distinct from its response to recent challenges, including the muted response to the 2014 Thai coup , signaling an uneven application of ASEAN’s principles. Myanmar’s military has a history of using deceptive tactics against protesters. Now it has social media, too. On the day of the coup, ASEAN made a brief statement appealing for “dialogue” and a “return to normalcy,” similar to the organization’s response to the 2014 Thai coup. But a flurry of diplomatic activity then followed, including a March 2 informal ASEAN foreign ministers’ meeting , followed by an ad hoc Leaders’ Summit on April 24, convened by Indonesian President Joko Widodo . The Leaders’ Summit produced an ambitious five-point consensus agreed to by all members, including Myanmar’s military junta. The consensus calls for a cessation of violence, participation in ASEAN-led dialogue and the provision of aid through the AHA Centre , ASEAN’s humanitarian arm. To facilitate these aims, members agreed to appoint a special envoy and visiting ASEAN delegation . But critics were disappointed that the five-point consensus stopped short on human rights protections and the release of political prisoners. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement Some observers find the ASEAN response and the leaders’ meeting a success for simply occurring. Others suggest the consensus was uncharacteristically blunt , with some calling it “ undue interference .” ASEAN also faced criticism within the region and beyond . To some critics, the diplomatic overtures have provided implicit recognition of the junta government while doing little to halt or stem the violence . And while proposals have been submitted , ASEAN has not appointed the special envoy. Mali’s ongoing instability challenges ECOWAS credibility Similarly, the widely condemned May coup in Mali raises questions about ECOWAS’ credibility as a regional organization. ECOWAS purports to have zero tolerance for unconstitutional changes in government, with violations subject to automatic sanction and suspension. However, since 2014, this principle has been applied unevenly. Another coup in Mali? Here’s what you need to know. For example, in 2017 ECOWAS deployed over 7,000 troops in Gambia to prevent outgoing Gambian President Yahya Jammeh from disrupting the transfer of power to President Adama Barrow. Conversely, ECOWAS did nothing to prevent current Guinean President Alpha Condé from changing the constitution to run for a third term in 2020. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement During the August 2020 coup in Mali, ECOWAS intended to pressure coup leaders to reinstate former president Ibrahim Boubacar Keïta. When it became clear that Keïta would not be reinstated by the junta, ECOWAS suspended Mali, closing land and air borders, financial flows and transactions between Mali and other ECOWAS members. In September 2020, ECOWAS leaders and Mali’s coup leaders agreed to an 18-month, civilian-led transition period, lifting sanctions and Mali’s suspension from ECOWAS on the condition that civilian control remain in place during the transition. When coup leader and transition Vice President Colonel Assimi Goita arrested transition President Bah N’daw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane in May 2021, ECOWAS again suspended Mali — but this time stopped short of imposing sanctions. At a summit in early June, ECOWAS leaders acknowledged the “ positive developments ” in Mali as the Malian Constitutional Court named Goita president and installed a civilian prime minister. By choosing not to impose sanctions on Mali, ECOWAS follows a trend of other inconsistent responses to coups across Africa. Advertisement Story continues below advertisement Regional organizations are under pressure to create durable solutions ASEAN and ECOWAS faced regional and global pressure to respond to these coups by upholding democracy and human rights. Each organization seemed poised for meaningful responses, reflecting their professed ability to exclusively manage regional challenges . However, the ASEAN and ECOWAS responses are shaped by organizational cultures and varied interests. In other words, the aspiration differed from what each organization could offer as a “ realistic ” approach.
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Regime Change
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A locust plague hit East Africa. The pesticide solution may ...
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News
A locust plague hit East Africa. The pesticide solution may have dire consequences.
Heavy use of a broad-spectrum pesticide seems to have slowed the desert locust invasion. What the repercussions of that approach are isn’t yet clear.
Seen from the air at dawn, a swarm of desert locusts begins to move across farmland toward the forests of Mount Kenya.
ByTristan McConnell
A swarm of locusts is awe inspiring and terrible. It begins as a dark smudge on the horizon, then a gathering darkness. A rustle becomes a clatter that crescendos as tens of millions of voracious, finger-sized, bright yellow insects descend on the land. Since late 2019, vast clouds of locusts have shrouded the Horn of Africa, devouring crops and pastureland—and triggering an operation of staggering proportions to track and kill them.
So far, a ground and air spraying campaign over eight East African countries, coordinated by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), has staved off the worst—the very real prospect that the locusts would destroy the food supply for millions of people. Last year, the operation protected enough pastureland and food stocks, by the FAO’s calculations , to feed 28 million people in the Greater Horn of Africa and Yemen for an entire year.
Left: A steppe eagle, a large raptor with a diet of rodents and other small mammals, insect swarms, and carrion, swoops through the center of a swarm of desert locusts in the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy, northern Kenya.
Right: A bird’s eye view from the center of a locust swarm at the Lewa Wildlife Conservancy. Swarms can range in size from less than half a square mile to 460 square miles, with 40 to 80 million locusts.
A swarm of locusts gathers over an acacia tree in the Borana Wildlife Conservancy in northern Kenya, where they roost for the night.
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But progress comes with yet-unknown consequences to the landscape, and responders have sought to find the elusive balance between eradicating the invading pests without destroying foliage and harming insects, wildlife, and humans. Northern Kenya is renowned worldwide for its bee diversity, and farmers and conservationists worry that bees are becoming casualties.
So far, 475,000 gallons (1.8 million liters) of chemical pesticides have been sprayed over 4.35 million acres (1.76 million hectares) at a cost the FAO says is $118 million. The spraying is expected to continue this year.
Assessments of possible environmental damage are incomplete at best, though the effects of pesticides have been well documented for decades in other settings. Broad spectrum pesticides are not only very effective at killing locusts, they also kill bees and other insects. They leach into water systems and can damage human health.
“Of course, there is collateral damage,” says Dino Martins, an entomologist and executive director of the Mpala Research Center in Kenya. “All these chemicals are designed to kill insects and they do so in very large numbers.”
Caught off guard
Kenya had not suffered a major locust invasion in 70 years. When the first swarms arrived in 2019, the country was woefully unprepared for what had been, quite reasonably, regarded as a remote threat.
“They had no equipment, no expertise, no pesticides, no aircraft, no knowledge,” says Keith Cressman , the FAO’s senior locust forecaster.
The swarms began forming in 2018 after cyclones dumped heavy rain on the inhospitable deserts of Arabia, allowing locusts to breed unseen in the wet sands. Strong winds in 2019 blew the growing swarms into Yemen’s inaccessible conflict zones, then across the Red Sea into Somalia, Ethiopia, and Kenya.
Grants gazelles and Oryx, large antelopes, stand in the grasslands where they usually graze, surrounded by a swarm of desert locusts.
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In the early stages of the locust control effort Kenya threw everything it had at the problem. “It was a panic reaction,” says James Everts , a Dutch ecotoxicologist specializing in the environmental effects of pesticide use.
The spraying continued even as the COVID-19 pandemic spread and shuttered much of the world. Donning face masks against the coronavirus, hundreds of local volunteers, as well as members of Kenya’s National Youth Service , shouldered knapsack sprayers and, with minimal training, unloaded on the locusts with whatever pesticides happened to be in stock. They sprayed tens of thousands of liters of deltamethrin, as well as hundreds of liters of fipronil, chlorpyrifos, and other insecticides, many of which are banned in Europe and parts of the United States.
In one documented case in the northern region of Samburu, a ground control team sprayed 34 times the recommended dose of pesticide on a patch of ground, killing bees and beetles while spilling pesticide on themselves and crops.
“In the beginning it was an emergency,” says Thecla Mutia, who leads an FAO team monitoring the environmental effects of locust-control efforts in Kenya. “The whole idea was to manage this as fast as possible to ensure food security.”
The FAO says, however, that it did not approve the use of volunteers in the campaign nor the spraying of pesticides not recommended for locust control.
Find out how locust plagues begin.
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Pesticides banned in Europe and the U.S.
Designed to kill, pesticides are toxic by definition, but they are also blunt weapons. Three of the four chemicals recommended by the FAO and authorized by regional governments—chlorpyrifos, fenitrothion, and malathion—are broad-spectrum organophosphates, widely used pesticides sometimes referred to as “ junior-strength nerve agents ” because of their kinship to Sarin gas. The other, deltamethrin, is a synthetic pyrethroid, which is especially toxic to bees and fish, though much less so to mammals.
The FAO’s Pesticides Referee Group , which vets pesticides for use in locust control, lists all four chemicals as high risk to bees, low or medium risk to birds, and medium or high risk to locusts’ natural enemies and soil insects, such as ants and termites.
The European Union banned chlorpyrifos early last year, and in the U.S. state bans have been enforced in New York, California, and Hawaii. Fenitrothion, too, is banned in Europe, but permitted in the U.S. and in Australia, where the government deploys it as a central weapon in the fight against locusts.
“We are not hiding what conventional pesticides are,” says Cyril Ferrand, FAO resilience team leader in Nairobi, who points out that doing nothing was not an option in the face of the rapidly expanding swarms. “We want to lower the population of desert locusts in a way that is responsible.”
Non-toxic alternatives
Non-toxic biological alternatives that kill locusts, but do no other harm, have been available for decades. Yet chemical pesticides remain the weapon of choice, accounting for 90 percent of the spraying in the current East Africa campaign.
Biopesticide development began in the late 1980s after the end of a years-long locust plague that stretched from North Africa to India.
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Left: A herd of elephants seeks shelter under a stand of acacia trees from a swarm of locusts at the Borana Wildlife Conservancy.
Right: Locusts feast on ground brush in the Borana Wildlife Conservancy.
Officials have been spraying potent insecticides to combat the locust invasion. It has worked but the side effects for health and the environment are still unknown.
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“When we saw the figures of the millions of liters of pesticide being sprayed, even the donor community was horrified,” recalls Christiaan Kooyman, a Dutch scientist who developed the biopesticide using a fungus, Metarhizium acridum, that attacks locusts. “And they asked the scientists, ‘Is there nothing else we can do?’”
Metarhizium, which has been on the market since 1998, is recommended by the FAO as the “most appropriate control option” for locusts, yet is rarely used. It is slow acting with a low “knockdown” rate—meaning it kills over days rather than hours. It is expensive and tricky to apply. And it is most effective against immature “hoppers,” rather than the adult swarms that are the greater threat.
Its best feature—that it kills only locusts—also makes it a less profitable product. Companies have little incentive to manufacture metarhizium and go through the costly bureaucratic process of registering it in a country until it is needed—and by then it is too late.
“Locusts aren’t around very much, and manufacturers are not keen on producing something that doesn’t get used,” says Graham Matthews , a British scientist and the founding chair of the Pesticides Referee Group . When the swarms arrive, “you don’t want to wait for production, you want it off-the-shelf,” he adds.
Instead, governments reach for the broad-spectrum toxic chemicals mass-produced by large agrochemical companies.
Extent of harm is unknown
What makes widespread spraying of chemical pesticides especially worrisome to farmers, herders, scientists, and conservationists in Kenya is that so little is known about what, if any, harm the pesticides have done. A U.S. government environmental assessment of the regional locust operation warned of the “potential for significant adverse impacts on environment and human health,” and a review by the World Bank found the environmental risk to be “substantial.”
Scientists expect that the broad-spectrum pesticide has taken a toll on pollinators like bees, though it's not entirely clear how severe the impact is.
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Yet more than a year into the control campaign, the FAO’s assessment of the environmental impact of the spraying has not been made public.
“The excessive use of pesticides is of course detrimental to biodiversity, but it has not really been quantified as to what the level of impact is,” says Sunday Ekesi , an entomologist and director of research and partnerships at the International Center of Insect Physiology and Ecology (ICIPE) in Nairobi, part of a government task force set up to tackle the desert locust invasion.
“Our key concern is the impact it has on the pollinators,” says Anne Maina, of the Biodiversity and Biosafety Association of Kenya . The farmers she works with attribute reduced honey and mango harvests to the disappearance of bees. Martins shares these concerns, but says the lack of monitoring information means it is impossible to know what’s really going on.
“Northern Kenya and the greater Horn of Africa is one of the world’s hotspots of bee diversity, with thousands of species, most of which we know absolutely nothing about,” he says. “We need to develop tools that allow us to both control locusts and protect the fragile biodiversity of the region’s drylands.”
The FAO’s 2003 guidelines on safety and environmental precautions acknowledge that aerial spraying may have less impact on human health than ground spraying, but often creates “more environmental concerns” because it risks contaminating ecologically sensitive areas. Aerial spraying increases the potential for “uncontrolled drift,” whereby chemicals—much like the locusts themselves—are blown off course by the wind.
Mutia, the FAO’s team leader for environmental monitoring, insists that ground-spraying teams have become better trained and local communities are better informed about the spraying and the risks to themselves and their livestock. Kenya’s overall locust operation today has improved since the early weeks of the invasion.
“Done right, the environmental impact is very low,” says Cressman.
A key report still under wraps
Still, Mutia’s environment and health monitoring report, finished last September, has yet to be made public. And there is confusion over why. The FAO says the report is for Kenya’s agriculture ministry to release, but a ministry spokeswoman says the FAO has yet to deliver it.
In an interview, Mutia says she found “no cause for alarm,” in her review of the spraying.
However, a copy of the report obtained by National Geographic paints a more detailed and problematic picture, with evidence of heavy overdosing at the Samburu site and widespread lack of communication with residents in sprayed areas.
In four of the 13 sites inspected, there was no sign of locust deaths at all, suggesting either that the spraying had been ineffective or that the monitoring teams weren’t in the right locations. The report says they were repeatedly given inadequate location information and lacked the helicopters and other vehicles required to quickly reach more remote sites.
“Our main concern has been the focus on control of the locusts without a parallel monitoring system of the undesired effects,” says Raphael Wahome, an animal scientist at the University of Nairobi. He says the FAO’s information should be made available to researchers and others: “Your guess is as good as mine as to what is happening wherever [the pesticides] have been used.”
Editor's note: The county in northern Kenya that was heavily sprayed was Samburu.
Editor's note: After this story was published, the FAO reviewed its data and provided updated numbers for the amount of pesticide sprayed, the area affected, and the cost. Those numbers have been incorporated into the article, along with the FAO's statement that it did not support the use of volunteers in the locust control campaign nor the use of pesticides not recommended for the purpose.
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Insect Disaster
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Millions of people in Angola faces hunger
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Angola: Millions facing hunger, as thousands flee their homes as drought ravages the south of Angola Millions of people in southern Angola are facing an existential threat as drought aggravated by climate change continues to ravage the region, Amnesty International said today. The organization highlighted how the creation of commercial cattle ranches on community land has driven pastoralist communities from their land since the end of the civil war in 2002 - a shift which left huge sections of the population food insecure and paved the way for a humanitarian crisis as the acute drought persists for over three years when drought struck over three years ago. As food and water grow increasingly scarce, thousands have fled their homes and sought refuge in neighbouring Namibia. “Millions of people in southern Angola are on the brink of starvation, caught between the devastating effects of climate change and the land diversion to commercial cattle farming,” said Deprose Muchena, Amnesty International’s Director for East and Southern Africa. “This drought - the worst in 40 years - has torn through traditional communities who had been struggling to survive since they were dispossessed of vast swathes of grazing land. The Angolan government must take responsibility for its own role in this dire situation, and ensure reparations to affected communities, and to take immediate steps to address food insecurity in the rural areas of Cunene and Huíla provinces.” According to the Association Building Communities (Associação Construindo Comunidades - ACC), a local NGO, traditional pastoralist families in the Gambos municipality of Huíla province are facing hunger. ACC reported that dozens of people had died of malnutrition since 2019, with older people and children particularly vulnerable. ACC, which has been distributing food baskets in the area, said people had resorted to eating leaves to survive. Fleeing hunger Angolans living in the Cunene and Huíla provinces have been especially hard hit by the persistent drought. The 2020/21 rainy season was abnormally dry, meaning the situation is likely to get far worse in the coming months. According to the World Food Program (WFP), the lack of rainfall in the period between November 2020 and January 2021 has already caused the worst drought in the last 40 years. The drought has made the lives of traditional pastoralist communities very difficult and hunger has driven thousands across the Namibian border since the start of March 2021, according to the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC). The IFRC reported that Namibian local authorities had recorded a total of 894 Angolan nationals in the Omusati and Kunene regions by March 2021. On 14 March 2021, the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation reported that large numbers of pastoralist families from Huíla and Cunene provinces had abandoned their homes to seek refuge in northern Namibia. In May 2021, Angolan NGOs reported that over 7,000 Angolans, mainly women with children and young people, had fled to Namibia, and the number is still rising. Angolan NGOs have referred to those who are fleeing to Namibia as “climate refugees”, to attract attention to the fact that the drought and the lack of resources in southern Angola are pushing them to migrate to Namibia as a desperate measure to survive. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has observed that “frequency and intensity of droughts has increased in some regions” including in southern Africa since pre-industrial levels due to global warming and that “the frequency and intensity of droughts are projected to increase particularly in the Mediterranean region and southern Africa”. Land occupation The situation in Huíla and Cunene provinces was precarious even before the drought. Food insecurity has increased partly due to the diversion of communal grazing land to commercial farmers, which has been happening over the past two decades after the civil war. In 2019, Amnesty International exposed how the Angolan government had diverted communal grazing land in the Gambos to commercial cattle farmers without due process. According to the government, 67% of grazing land in the Gambos municipality has been occupied by commercial cattle farmers. This includes large parts of Vale de Chimbolela, known to pastoralists as “the cradle of cattle”, and Tunda dos Gambos, the customary grazing commons for the region’s pastoralists. In its 2019 report, titled The end of cattle’s paradise, Amnesty International showed how the occupation of the more fertile land by commercial cattle farmers had impeded access to quality grazing land and thus undermined the economic and social resilience of pastoralist communities, undermining their ability to produce food and survive droughts. Impact of climate change on hunger Amnesty International visited traditional pastoral communities in Gambos municipality, Huíla province in 2018 and 2019. Researchers saw the struggle to produce food first-hand, and documented, for instance, the adverse impact on women as they bear the burden of tilling the land, taking care of the sick as well as children. They also had to travel long distances (about 10km) to sell firewood so that they could buy food. Three years on, the drought is showing no signs of abating. The WFP has observed that as a direct consequence of the drought, malnutrition is peaking, and access to water, sanitation and hygiene are increasingly precarious with negative impacts on local communities’ health and nutrition. In May 2021, the WFP estimated that 6 million people in Angola had insufficient food, with food insecurity most prevalent in the south of the country. It also noted that more than 15 million people are using crisis or emergency livelihood-based coping strategies, such as spending savings or reducing non-food expenses. Amnesty International is calling on Angolan authorities and the international community to ramp up their relief efforts, including providing sustained and regular emergency food assistance and access to clean and safe water for domestic use and consumption in the rural areas of Cunene and Huíla provinces. “The situation in southern Angola is a stark reminder that climate change is already causing suffering and death. The international community, particularly wealthier states and those most responsible for the climate crisis, must take immediate action to fulfil their human rights obligations by urgently reducing emissions, and providing the necessary financial and technical assistance to the government and local civil society to support impacted communities,” said Deprose Muchena. “In addition, Angolan authorities must stop diverting land away from traditional communities in the rural areas of Cunene and Huíla provinces. They must ensure that those responsible for the granting of communal grazing land to commercial farmers are held accountable.”
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Famine
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Karsten Warholm Has Great Reaction to Setting 400m Hurdles World Record
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Norway's Karsten Warholm crushed his own world record to win the men's 400m hurdles final in 45.94 seconds on Monday night.
And his reaction was priceless.
On July 1, Warholm broke American Kevin Young's 29-year-old world record of 46.78 seconds at a Diamond League meet with a time of 46.70, and he blew by that mark just over a month later to win gold in Tokyo.
American Rai Benjamin also beat Warholm's previous world record on Monday by finishing in 46.17 seconds, but it was only enough for him to land the silver medal.
Watch all the action from the Tokyo Olympics live on NBC
Brazil's Alison dos Santos (who had a similar reaction as Warholm after the race) claimed bronze with a time of 46.72.
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Break historical records
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The fight over the debt ceiling has the potential to tank the U.S. economy—here’s what it means
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Two days ago, this broadsheet reported on Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua’s estimate of the total economic cost of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdowns. The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) cited a total cost of P41.4 trillion representing foregone growth drivers such as consumption, private investment, and human capital investment for 2020 and the next 40 years at net present value. Without the pandemic and economic lockdowns, the NEDA report shows what could have happened to the Philippine economy. Instead of gross domestic product (GDP) of P19.5 trillion in 2019 contracting to P17.9 trillion in 2020, it could have grown to P21.4 trillion. With economic scars, the 40-year opportunity cost combined would be equivalent to almost two years of output. With foregone opportunities, NEDA believes that “it may take 10 years to catch up to pre-COVID-19 trajectory” in terms of financial investments. Corruption is another source of missed opportunities. This is more sinister because it is committed by those in authority, whether elected or appointed, and most probably supported by those around them. A pioneering study by Paolo Mauro (“The Effects of Corruption on Growth, Investment, and Government Expenditure”) of the IMF in 1997, nearly a quarter of a century ago, attempted to pin down the reality of public sector corruption. Mauro argued the obvious, that we should worry about corruption. He traced the seminal research on corruption all the way to the 1960s when economists preferred to call it “rent seeking.” Mauro concluded that quantifying the extent of corruption and putting value to it was rather difficult. Corruption is done in secret unless exposed by those with authority to audit relevant transactions. Joint annual meetings of the IMF and the World Bank in the 1990s invariably harped on governance and corruption, calling it a “cancer” that must be excised. The only available metrics of corruption were those supplied by private rating agencies based on the responses of locally consultants. No one could fault the results for being subjective because there was hardly any other option. The context of corruption is very interesting. ADVERTISEMENT Mauro explained, in the Fund’s simplified version, that “since much public corruption can be traced to government intervention in the economy, policies aimed at liberalization, stabilization, deregulation and privatization can sharply reduce the opportunities for rent-seeking behavior and corruption.” This fundamental cause resonates even in the Philippines today when reported cases of corruption involved official interventions that would thwart the tenets of competition and liberal markets. Liberalized importation of rice, for instance, made a handful of middlemen unhappy but all rice-eating Filipinos rejoiced when rice prices dropped and inflation weakened. Farmers have started to benefit from the support coming from the rice tariff collection. Sin taxes had an impossible time in Congress because big money was involved in sin products like liquor and cigarettes. Once they were in place, taxes from this source helped promote fiscal sustainability and the Philippine economy turned the corner before the pandemic. Corruption is indeed rent seeking because those who are bribed are policy makers who can make policies or change the regulations to suit the interests of the corrupting party. Mauro wrote that “throughout the world bureaucrats and people in authority are indefatigably maneuvering to position themselves in a tiny monopoly where they can be bribed for issuing a license, approving an expenditure or allowing a shipment across a border.” Another good material on corruption focusing on the Philippines is the article by Emmanuel S. Dios and Ricardo D. Ferrer, “Corruption in the Philippines: Framework and Context” published in January 2000. The authors used Susan Rose-Ackerman’s (“Corruption and Development,” 1998) table on types of corrupt states to show the interesting dynamics of corruption. Normally there are few bribers to a few recipients. Since there could be whistleblowers, one could spread the largesse to more recipients and produce a Mafia-dominated state. ADVERTISEMENT Transaction-wise, corruption targets bids, purchases, and auctions as well as sale of policies, laws, and regulations, among others. As example, corruption in public procurement results in bid-rigging, overpricing, or even over-purchasing. Sale of public policy involves changes in ownership rules. Like the pandemic, corruption has economic consequences. The literature contains instances when corruption could have some constructive use like incentivizing bureaucrats to perform better than without bribe. But its negative impact trumps its efficiency value. Recipients of public spending could lose what has been earmarked for them. Due to corruption, both investment and economic growth could drop. Like a tax, corruption discourages economic activity in a sense similar to what community quarantines do to business and mobility. Unlike a tax, corruption is unpredictable and unreliable. One of the parties may not deliver on his commitment. De Dios and Ferrer replicated Mauro’s approach and used his equations for the Philippines but with a great difference: the level of corruption is modified to mimic Singapore. This means if we are able to reduce the extent of this insidious practice, we could expect a 6.6 percentage point increase in the ratio of investment to GDP and a 1.65% increase in annual per capita GDP growth at that point in the past. In addition, revenues could drop and spending could get bloated resulting in unsustainable fiscal deficits. Under-provisioning of public goods and over-provisioning of something unwanted, or unnecessary, happen. ADVERTISEMENT How does the Philippines compare with other countries in terms of Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index? Based on the table compiled by TAKE-PROFIT.ORG, in the last five presidencies, only President Fidel V. Ramos and President Benigno Aquino III managed to increase their scores from the year they started their administration to the end of their terms. For the year 2020, of the 180 countries assessed, the Philippines scored 34 points that brought it to 115th place. In the ASEAN, those which rated higher include Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. The Philippines was specially mentioned with these remarks: “with a score of 34, efforts to control corruption in the Philippines appear mostly stagnant since 2012. The government’s response to COVID-19 has been characterized by abusive enforcement, and major violations of human rights and media freedom.” We recall that in August 2019, before the pandemic, Deputy Ombudsman Cyril Ramos reported his personal calculation that the Philippine government lost around P1.4 trillion in the previous two years, or P700 billion a year, because of corruption. This was about 20% of the annual budget of the Philippine government. This were estimated as the equivalent of 1.4 million housing for the poor, medical assistance for around 7 million Filipinos, or a rice buffer stock for over a year. From another angle, somebody estimated that a kilometer of road, 11-meters wide or two-lanes on each side, would cost around P100 million. This means we could have additional 7,000 kilometers of road — that is all the way from Ilocos Norte to Bicol, seven times. Many years ago, the Department of Education estimated an average of about P1 million per classroom in the public school, although Senator Frank Drilon challenged this amount. Without corruption, we would have at least 700,000 classrooms more. Today, the anomaly in the Pharmally transactions with the Procurement Service-Department of Budget and Management could also involve corruption. Public documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission prove Pharmally is undercapitalized but it managed to win billions worth of contracts. Its deliveries were certified even without inspection. Its pricing was not exactly competitive. Rent seeking was clearly present. With a level playing field, the government would not have to pay more than necessary. Lost from these transactions that produced luxury cars, among others, were more kilometers of road, more classrooms, more medical assistance, or more rice buffer stock for our people. Obviously, following Rose-Ackerman scheme, the pandemic crisis presented an opportunity for corruption. Diwa C. Guinigundo is the former Deputy Governor for the Monetary and Economics Sector, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP). He served the BSP for 41 years. In 2001-2003, he was Alternate Executive Director at the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC. He is the senior pastor of the Fullness of Christ International Ministries in Mandaluyong.
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Financial Crisis
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Still a chance to see the Northern Lights across parts of Canada tonight
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Thursday, December 10th 2020, 12:10 pm - Aurora-chasers in Alberta and Saskatchewan should keep their eyes to the skies tonight! Update: After the arrival of the solar storm on Wednesday night, forecasters with NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center determined that the initial estimate of its strength was too high. The weak magnetic field of the CME is not expected to spark a strong (G3) geomagnetic storm Thursday night. The latest update from the Space Weather Prediction Center, at 1:30 p.m. EST on December 10. Circled is the arrival time of the CME on Wednesday night, however the magnetic field of the cloud was not favourable for producing a strong geomagnetic storm. Credit: NOAA SWPC Instead, SWPC has downgraded their watch to a minor (G1) geomagnetic storm. Auroras from this may extend into southern regions of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. The original story continues below... After a solar flare blasted out from the Sun earlier this week, space weather forecasters alerted us of the potential for a geomagnetic storm, and a possible intense display of the Northern Lights across Canada and the northern United States. It all started on Monday, December 7, when a sunspot designated as AR2790 emitted a small but still impressive-looking solar flare. Ranked as C7-class by space weather scientists, it wasn't very powerful (M-class and X-class are typically the ones to watch out for). Monday's C7-class solar flare wasn't very strong, but up close, it was still fairly impressive. However, this solar flare was pointed almost directly at Earth, and forecasters noted that a 'coronal mass ejection' had erupted from the Sun at the same time. According to NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center , this Earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME) arrived late on Wednesday, but a bit later than anticipated. While their original forecast called for the strongest auroras to become visible overnight Wednesday into Thursday, this has now been revised. The graph (left) shows the arrival of the CME, as the magnetic field strength (white), density (orange), speed (yellow) and temperature (green) all abruptly rise at around 8:30 p.m. EST on Wednesday. The map (right), shows the potential southerly extent of the auroras on Thursday night. Credit: NOAA SWPC They are now anticipating up to a strong (G3-level) geomagnetic storm for the evening of December 10. Moderate (G2-level) geomagnetic storming is also possible for the early morning hours of December 11. According to the SWPC forecasters, however, "confidence in storming reaching [G3 and G2] levels is diminishing." Based on this space weather forecast and the terrestrial weather forecast, it appears as though skywatchers in Alberta, southern Saskatchewan, northern Manitoba, and northern Ontario will have the most favourable conditions to see the auroras Thursday night. Updated forecast map with clouds and the expected extent of auroras from a G1 (minor) geomagnetic storm. Clouds may spoil the view across British Columbia, northern Saskatchewan, southern Manitoba, and northwestern and northeastern Ontario. Much of Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia also appear to be overcast tonight. Southern Ontario looks to have exceptionally clear skies, as does much of New Brunswick. Seeing the auroras from these locations, though, will depend on exacting when the strongest geomagnetic storming occurs. This composite image of nighttime imagery from the Suomi NPP satellite shows the extent of the auroras over Canada on the night of December 9-10, 2020. The green has been added to differentiate the auroras from clouds. WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? Solar flares and coronal mass ejections are both parts of what is known as space weather. Solar flares are explosions on the surface of the Sun caused when tangled magnetic fields suddenly unravel and form new connections. This releases intense bursts of x-rays. Most solar flares are relatively weak, like Monday's C7-class flare. Some flares can be exceptionally powerful, though, saturating spacecraft instruments and plunging Earth's dayside into extreme radio blackouts. These three views combine different coronagraph images taken by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) on December 7, 2020. The coronagraph places a small disk directly beween the lens and the Sun, to capture features in the fainter corona. This sequence reveals the December 7 CME expanding away from the Sun (highlighted by the arrows). Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are eruptions of magnetically charged plasma from the Sun, which usually accompany a solar flare. The tangled magnetic field lines where flares originate have billions of tonnes of solar material swirling around them at any time. So, when those new connections form, immense clouds of this solar matter become detatched from the Sun, and are suddenly accelerated away into space by the intense energy of the flare. As a large moving cloud of charged particles (mostly electrons and protons), a CME carries with it both electric fields and magnetic fields. The speed and density of the CME, and the intensity of the cloud's magnetic field, determine how much of an impact it has, if any part of it encounters Earth's geomagnetic field. These four panels reveal the process of how a geomagnetic storm produces auroras. a) the CME arrives at Earth, pushing against the planet's magnetic field. b) solar particles from the cloud are trapped along the field lines, which draw together and 'reconnect'. c) the solar particles stream along the magnetic field loop, down into the upper atmosphere. d) auroras form when those particles interact with air molecules. Credit: NASA Earth's magnetic field, which is generated by the planet's liquid metal core, acts like a protective shield against the solar wind and coronal mass ejections. However, when a CME sweeps past Earth the two magnetic fields interact with each other. This often results in a 'geomagnetic storm'. The strongest of these geomagnetic storms - G4 (Severe) and G5 (Extreme) - have been known to cause problems with orbiting spacecraft and have even caused power blackouts. Watch below: How to find the best aurora-spotting sites near you While this disturbance is going on, some of the solar particles from the cloud become trapped in Earth's magnetic field and stream down into the upper atmosphere. There, these highly energetic particles smack into air molecules, transferring some of their energy, and the air molecules then emit this excess energy as flashes of light. The arcs and sheets of glowing air molecules produced by this process are what we call the Aurora Borealis or Aurora Australis - the Northern and Southern Lights.
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New wonders in nature
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Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 crash
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Indonesia AirAsia Flight 8501 (QZ8501/AWQ8501) was a scheduled international passenger flight operated by Indonesia AirAsia (an AirAsia Group affiliate) from Surabaya, Indonesia to Singapore. On 28 December 2014, the Airbus A320 flying the route crashed into the Java Sea, killing all 162 people on board. [1][2] When search operations ended in March 2015, only 116 bodies had been recovered. [3]:63[4]
In December 2015, the Indonesian National Transportation Safety Committee (KNKT or NTSC) released a report concluding that a non-critical malfunction in the rudder control system prompted the captain to perform a non-standard reset of the on-board flight control computers. Control of the aircraft was subsequently lost, resulting in a stall and uncontrolled descent into the sea. Miscommunication between the two pilots was cited as a contributing factor. [5][6][7]
Flight 8501 was a scheduled flight from Surabaya, Java, Indonesia to Singapore on Sunday, 28 December 2014. It was scheduled to depart Juanda International Airport at 05:20 Western Indonesian Time (WIB, UTC+7) and arrive at Singapore Changi Airport at 08:30 Singapore Standard Time (SST, UTC+8). [8] Flight 8501 took off at 05:35. [b] Indonesia AirAsia did not have permission from the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation to operate the route on Sundays. [c][11]
After departure, Flight 8501 was in contact with the Jakarta Area Control Centre (callsign: "Jakarta Centre"),[12] which provides air traffic control (ATC) service over the western Java Sea, and flying along air route M635,[12] off the southwest coast of Borneo. [13] At 06:12, Flight 8501 was flying at flight level 320—approximately 32,000 ft (9,750 m)—when the flight crew requested and was authorised to deviate left from its assigned flight path to avoid a line of thunderstorms. [14] The pilot then requested to climb to flight level 380,[15] which was deferred by ATC because of other aircraft in the vicinity. [12][16][17][18] Jakarta Centre then cleared Flight 8501 to flight level 340 at 06:14,[d] but no response was received; other aircraft in the vicinity were asked to contact Flight 8501, but also did not receive a response. [12][failed verification][19]
Between 06:17:00 and 06:17:54, the aircraft climbed from 32,000 to 37,000 ft (9,800 to 11,300 m),[20] exceeding a climb rate of 10,000 feet per minute. [21] The flight data recorder (FDR), showed the aircraft at 35,500 feet (10,800 m)—and still climbing—at 159 knots (294 km/h; 183 mph), which is below the stall speed for the airplane's weight at that altitude. [21] The Indonesian Minister of Transport interpreted the apparent aircraft behaviour at peak altitude as an aerodynamic stall, when it began to descend at 06:17:54, descending 1,000 ft (300 m) within six seconds and 8,000 ft (2,400 m) within 31 seconds. [20] The aircraft also began a turn to the left, forming at least one complete circle before disappearing from radar at 06:18:44. [20][22][23][24][25] Its last recorded position was over the Java Sea, Karimata Strait between the islands of Belitung and Kalimantan (3°22′15″S 109°41′28″E / 3.3708°S 109.6911°E / -3.3708; 109.6911 (AirAsia Flight 8501 last transponder signal)). The aircraft crashed in the Java Sea, Karimata Strait between the islands of Belitung and Borneo (3°37′23″S 109°42′43″E / 3.623°S 109.712°E / -3.623; 109.712 (AirAsia Flight 8501 crash site)). [22][26] The cockpit voice recorder captured multiple warnings, including a stall warning, sounding in the cockpit during the final minutes of the flight. [27] No distress signal was sent from the aircraft. [28][29] Search and rescue (SAR) operations were activated by the Indonesia National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) from the Pangkal Pinang office. [30][31]
The aircraft was an Airbus A320-216,[e] with serial number 3648, registered as PK-AXC. It first flew on 25 September 2008, and was delivered to AirAsia on 15 October 2008. The aircraft was 6 years old and had accumulated approximately 23,000 flight hours over 13,600 flights. It had undergone its most recent scheduled maintenance on 16 November 2014. [10] The aircraft was powered by two CFM International CFM56-5B6 engines and was configured to carry 180 passengers. [32]
AirAsia released details of the 155 passengers, which included 137 adults, 17 children, and one infant. The crew consisted of two pilots and four flight attendants. A company engineer was also on board and was not counted as one of the passengers. [35]
The pilots on board the flight were:[36]
Forty-one people who were on board the AirAsia flight were members of a single church congregation in Surabaya. Most were families with young children travelling to Singapore for a new year's holiday. [40]
The bodies began to be returned to their families on 1 January 2015. At that time, the East Java Regional Police Department's Disaster Victim Identification commissioner stated that the victims were identified by the means of post mortem results, thumb prints, and their personal belongings. [41]
Air Asia offered US$32,000 or Rp300 million to each of the grieving family members of the victims of the accident as initial compensation from an overall part of compensation. David Thejakusuma, who had 7 family members on the flight, received the amount for each family member he lost. [42]
On 16 March 2015, Monash University awarded in the form of posthumous title (award of posthumous degree) the Bachelor of Commerce to one of the late crash victims, Kevin Alexander Sujipto. Professor Colm Kearney, Dean of the Faculty of Business and Economics presented it to a member of his family. A memorial service was held alongside the presentation of the award, and was attended by the Consul General of Indonesia for Victoria and Tasmania, Dewi Savitri Wahab, 40 of the deceased's friends and representatives from the Indonesian Student Association in Australia (PPIA) Monash University branch. [43]
On 28 December 2015, the first anniversary of the crash, a private prayer service was held in a private room in Mahameru Building, East Java Regional Police, Surabaya, and was attended by family members and relatives of the victims of the crash. The service was also attended by the Head Chief of the Search and Rescue Agency Henry Bambang Soelistyo. Representatives from the family members asked the National Transportation Safety Committee to ensure the safety of air travel in Indonesia. The Indonesian Government was also asked by the family members to ratify the Montreal Convention, finally ratified on 19 May 2017. [44][45]
Shortly after the aircraft was confirmed to be missing, unconfirmed reports stated that wreckage had been found off the island of Belitung in Indonesia. [46][47][48] Indonesia's National Search and Rescue Agency (Basarnas) deployed seven ships and two helicopters to search the shores of Belitung and Kalimantan. [49] The Indonesian Navy and the provincial Indonesian National Police Air and Water Unit each sent out search and rescue teams. [50] In addition, an Indonesian Air Force Boeing 737 reconnaissance aircraft was dispatched to the last known location of the airliner. [51]
The Indonesian Navy dispatched four ships by the end of the first search day and the Air Force deployed aircraft including a CASA/IPTN CN-235. [52] The Indonesian Army deployed ground troops to search the shores and mountains of adjacent islands.
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Air crash
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Salernitana promoted to Serie A, Berlusconi's Monza in play-offs
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Salernitana earned promotion to Serie A on Monday as they secured second place behind Serie B champions Empoli, while Silvio Berlusconi's ambitious Monza will go into the playoffs after finishing third.
A 3-0 victory over relegated Pescara ensured Salernitana will return to Italy's top flight for the first time since the 1998-99 season.
The Campania club's promotion means Lazio president Claudio Lotito will have to sell his stake in Salernitana, as Italian Football Federation rules prevent two clubs in the same league from having the same owner.
Monza's outside hopes of automatic promotion were dashed by a 2-0 home loss to Brescia.
The teams that finish from third to eighth go into a promotion play-off, with the four lowest-ranked clubs playing a preliminary round before the two-legged semi-finals and final.
Former AC Milan owner and Italian prime minister Berlusconi purchased Monza in September 2018 with the club in the third tier, having sold Milan in April 2017.
Monza signed Mario Balotelli in December, three months after ex-Ghana international Kevin-Prince Boateng joined the club on a free transfer.
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Join in an Organization
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Year in Review: More Than 11,000 Fashion-Related Doors Shutter in 2020
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Rivet’s 2021 winter issue has dropped! This in-depth issue examines the steps the global denim industry is taking to minimize its impact on the environment, from implementing zero waste production and design processes to establishing greenhouse gas emissions goals aligned with the Paris Agreement. View Now Covid-19 has accelerated a retail apocalypse years in the making. Retailers have been purging their store base since the Great Recession. Even after all those closures, they still have too many doors for current needs, especially in a world where even more consumers—newbies, if you will, to online shopping—have been forced to migrate to digital commerce during the coronavirus pandemic. And with customers staying home in a world where social distancing remains the mandate, retailers have even less need for their mall-based stores. After all, why bother when those locations become nonproductive due to foot traffic shortfalls. And for retailers who were teetering on the financial cliff at the start of 2020, high debt levels and nonexistent cash flow from temporary store closures certainly didn’t help. Fashion wasn’t exactly top-of-mind as consumers initially shifted their focus to purchases of essential items. Even when stores reopened, limited capacity was just one challenge. Many fashion firms had the wrong merchandise as consumers shifted their fashion focus to athleisure and more comfortable apparel. As a result, retailers in 2020 were forced to realign their store network and cull doors that no longer fit strategies for 2021 and beyond, while those with too much debt on the books had no choice but to either shut down operations or file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection. So where are we now? So far, there were more than 11,000 reported fashion store closures—11,060 to be exact—in 2020 by mid-December, and that’s just for the banners that made news. That total surpassed the 9,300-plus stores that closed just in the U.S. across all retail categories in 2019. And there are many other nameplates globally that have not been accounted for. If the forecast of 100,000 retail doors that’s been projected to disappear by 2025 comes to fruition, shopping centers and strip malls could look very different in the near future. That’s especially true if we get close to the 20,000-25,000 stores that are projected to go dark this year. Here are the fashion retail and apparel companies that announced store closures in 2020: Number: 50 to 78 Backstory: Pointing to foot traffic challenges that may not reverse course for some time, DSW’s parent Designer Brands said it plans a 10 to 15 percent reduction of its store base. With a current store network of 524 U.S. stores, that would mean closing 50 to 78 doors. It also operates 145 stores in Canada. Number: 234 Backstory: The women’s budget chain filed its Chapter 11 petition on Dec. 4 to sell the business to TerraMar Capital. The company operated 558 stores at the time of its filing, but had already closed 137 stores last month. Days after its filing, Francesca’s said it would shutter another 97 stores. Number: 7 flagships Backstory: The specialty chain, which includes its teen Hollister brand, began the year with 15 tourist-driven locations and decided to pare down to eight flagship stores back in 2018 as part of its store optimization strategy even before the pandemic began in 2020. As for its mall-based locations, it has about 50 percent of its store leases up for renewal over the next two years, so even more locations are likely to close. Number: 133 Backstory: The company said it will close 133 Naturalizer-branded stores by the end of fiscal 2020. On a conference call after reporting third-quarter results last month, executives said the brand had been revamped and that this was a good time to exit some locations because those doors were tied to a now outdated positioning strategy. Number: 4, including one outlet location Backstory: The U.S. subsidiary of luxury brand Furla SpA saw its wholesale accounts get impacted by the closure of nonessential retailers, as well as a slowdown in consumer purchases at its stores. Luxury brand have been hit hard as tourism declined because of the pandemic. The company filed its Chapter 11 petition to get rid of leases and lower its debt. Before the filing, it operated six full-price freestanding stores and eight outlet locations. Number: 63 to 88, including 10 locations in Canada Backstory: The women’s specialty chain operates the nameplates Chico’s, White House|Black Market and intimates concept Soma. In November, it said it closed 28 stores thus far and planned to close another 25 to 50 locations. The company’s Canadian operations in August filed for bankruptcy, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The bankruptcy will result in Chico’s exit from Canada, as well as the closure of four Chico’s stores and six White|House Black Market doors in the Canadian market. Number: 350 Backstory: The company’s three main nameplates are its core Gap chain, Banana Republic and Old Navy. In October, it said it would close 220 Gap stores and 130 Banana Republic locations by 2023. The plan is to have 200 stores closed by the end of this year and another 75 locations in 2021. The balance of the targeted locations will close by the end of fiscal year 2023. Number: 200 The children’s apparel chain is closing at least 200 doors, or 25 percent of its store fleet. About 60 percent will be close by the end of 2021, and 80 percent by the end of 2022. Number: 13 Backstory: This off-pricer has been a long-time fan favorite of New Yorkers and tourists. The retailer said it was forced to shut down operations after insurance providers elected not to pay $175 million under policies to protect against business disruptions during the pandemic. The retailer operated 13 stores. Number: 40 to 50 Backstory: The company, which also operates the Aerie intimates nameplate, plans to shutter 40 to 50 locations for the year, with about 250 leases set to expire. It also has another 250 store leases that will come up for renewal next year, which means that more store closures could be on the agenda in 2021. Number: 281 Backstory: The 281-door department store operator had already let go of most of its employees when it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy court protection. It had been on the watch list of credit analysts for a number of years. The company’s intellectual property assets were sold to Retail Ecommerce Ventures for $6 million, a company that specialized in asset-light operations by owning retail business that sell online only. Recent acquisitions include Dressbarn and Pier 1. Number: 5 Backstory: The company in August said it would close its five store locations to focus on online operations. It also plans to increase the number of drop-off locations. Number: 16 Backstory: The company said it was closing all 16 stores, choosing to focus on its digital business. Number: 500 Backstory: Too much debt on the books from its $1.8 billion acquisition of competitor Jos. A. Banks Clothiers Inc. in 2014 was a huge problem, exacerbated by a lack of cash flow when stores closed temporarily to help curb the spread of Covid. The plan was to close up to 500 stores, leaving it with a store base of 775 doors. The company exited bankruptcy on Dec. 1. Former Ann Taylor parent Ascena Retail Group closed 1.623 doors across multiple banners when it filed its Chapter 11 petition. Number: 1,623 Backstory: The company had been struggling for several quarters, and had already sold a majority stake in Maurices and completed a wind-down of its Dress Barn operations. It denied that bankruptcy was even being considered, but then the impact of Covid and mandatory store closures ended up pushing the company into Chapter 11. At the time, the company said it would close 1,600 doors, with many locations connected to its decision to shutter its plus-size Catherines nameplate. Ascena later closed 23 more Justice doors. The company has since sold its nameplates Catherines to FullBeauty Brands Operations LLC for $40.8 million in September and Justice to Bluestar Alliance for $90 million in November. On Dec. 8, the bankruptcy court gave its approval for Ascena to sell its remaining brands—Ann Taylor, Loft, Lane Bryant and Lou & Grey—to private equity firm Sycamore Partners for $540 million. Number: 13 Backstory: The women’s chain filed its Chapter 11 petition in Delaware, and was later acquired in September by Newtimes Group for $12.2 million. It’s 13 stores closed due to Covid in mid-March and never reopened. The online site was relaunched on Dec. 17. Number: 378, including outlet locations Backstory: The company, which operates women’s apparel chains under the nameplates New York & Co., Fashion to Figure and Happy x Nature, filed a voluntary Chapter 11 petition for bankruptcy court protection in 2020. Saadia Group acquired the New York & Co. and Fashion to Figure nameplates for $40 million, and will operate them solely as online businesses. Number: 162 Backstory: PVH Corp. operates the outlet stores for its Van Heusen, Izod, Arrow, Warner’s, Olga and Geoffrey Beene brands. The company in July said it would close all locations. Number: 51 Backstory: The storied seller of American apparel and accessories filed for bankruptcy court protection in July, and was acquired a month later by a joint venture between Simon Property Group and Authentic Brands Group for $305 million. Number: 11 Backstory: The women’s specialty chain said in July that it would close 11 locations, with plans to have 275 doors by the end of the year. Number: 420, with 170 locations to close in 2020 and 250 in 2021 Backstory: The Swedish fast-fashion chain decided to increase the number of stores it plans to close to 170 from 130 after posting a 23 percent drop in first-half revenues, and in October said it would shutter 250 doors in 2021. But the 250 locations represent just 6 percent of total doors. Number: 200 Backstory: The company closed the stores as part of its Chapter 11 restructuring. The brand was later acquired out of bankruptcy by Sparc, a joint venture between brand management firm Authentic Brands Group and mall operator Simon Property Group. Number: 57 Backstory: The denim fashion brand, based in Los Angeles, found its business disrupted by the Covid pandemic and filed for bankruptcy protection so its could reassess and restructure its store portfolio. It’s bankruptcy filing in Australia saw the shutdown of all 57 stores in August after failing to find a buyer. Number: 170 Backstory: Capri Holdings Ltd., which also owns the Versace and Jimmy Choo brands, is rightsizing its Kors store base over the next two years. Number: 300 Backstory: The store closures are projected to be completed by the end of fiscal year 2021, although 200 of those doors are expected to take place in the current fiscal year, as the retailer places a greater focus on digital commerce. The balance of 100 doors will close in 2021. Number: 71, comprised of 66 doors in the U.K. and 5 in Australia Backstory: The company fell into administration on June 30 and shuttered all stores. Number: 100 stores globally, primarily across North America and China Backstory: Sales productivity across its store network has fallen during the pandemic, and lease expirations give the company flexibility to downsize its retail footprint. Zara’s parent Inditex is closing 1,200 doors over a two-year period. Number: 1,200, or up to 600 stores annually in 2020 and 2021 Backstory: After reporting its first-ever quarterly loss in Q1, the Zara owner is focusing on store optimization as it works to integrate its store and online business. It’s also taking a closer focus on its supply chain to zero in on inventory management, and its using existing store networ to help with the fulfillment of online orders. Number: 199, comprised of 110 Wilson’s stores and 89 G.H. Bass locations Backstory: The company restructured its retail operations after deciding to focus on its wholesale operation and its DKNY and Karl Lagerfeld Paris businesses. Number: 230 Backstory: The company filed for bankruptcy court protection in May, and shuttered 230 locations. It plans exit Chapter 11 before the end of the year with 500 stores still in operation. Number: 175 Backstory: The mass merchant closed six department stores before it filed its Chapter 11 petition and then closed 154 during its tour of bankruptcy court. It recently exited bankruptcy proceedings when the operating business was sold to its two largest landlords, Simon Property Group and Brookfield Asset Management. On Dec. 17, the company confirmed the additional closure of 15 more doors. Number: 67 Backstory: The preppy chain, along with its Madewell concept, filed a bankruptcy petition in May. While it plans to reopen nearly 500 doors after temporary COVID-19 shutdowns, the retailer is looking to get out of 67 store leases over time. It already closed eight stores during its tour of bankruptcy proceedings. Number: 18 Backstory: The fashion brand is closing 18 of its stores, leaving just one open in New York City’s Meatpacking District. The brand is refocusing its business to an e-commerce model in the U.S. and Europe, and will continue with wholesale operations in China. The DVF Studio division in the U.K. in May filed for administration, the equivalent of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition in the U.S. Number: 19, comprised of 16 full-line doors and all 3 Jeffrey stores Backstory: The retailer is restructuring its business following the impact from the coronavirus, with the closures “based on the needs of each market.” The company has also been reducing expenses by restructuring regions, support roles and its corporate organization. Number: 250 locations across the U.S. and Canada, including 238 in the U.S. Backstory: L Brands is restructuring the brand after Sycamore Partners backed out of a deal to acquire a 55 percent majority stake in the lingerie chain. Number: 738 Backstory: A bankruptcy in May had the company liquidating 550 reopened stores. The retailer, which plans to liquidate its remaining stores as they are able to reopen, was in the middle of converting its department stores to its off-price nameplate Gordmans. The company is also in the process of selling its assets. Number: 40 Backstory: The retailer initially closed two locations earlier in the year, but rumblings in April indicated that could be trouble ahead following a reduction in headcount. Lord & Taylor, and its parent Le Tote, subsequently filed for bankruptcy in August and the initial plan was to liquidate 19 stores as the company tried to find a buyer for America’s first department store. It later upped the number of doors to close to 24, hoping to keep 14 in operation. Failing to find a buyer, a decision was made to liquidate and shutter all doors. Another 142 stores could close in a liquidation if last minute rescue attempts come to naught. Number: 61, including 11 in Ireland Backstory: After closing 22 stores in the beginning of the year, the retailer declared insolvency in April, representing its second tour of insolvency in one year. It has liquidated all 11 doors in Ireland, and another 28 locations in the U.K. have been closed. However, the company failed to find a buyer and is slated to shut down its remaining 142 stores in the U.K. Whether that actually happens is unclear. Mike Ashley‘s Frasers Group is in last minute talks to rescue the bankrupt department store chain. This week, word surfaced that American brand management firm Authentic Brands Group is also in talks to possibly take over the ailing chain. Number: 60 Backstory: Another early victim of the coronavirus, this British fashion and homeware brand shut down all 60 stores in the U.K. Its Japanese counterpart also filed for bankruptcy protection shortly thereafter. Number: 40 Backstory: Germany’s biggest department store retailer filed for administrative insolvency, a victim of the Covid pandemic following mandatory store closures to help curb the virus.
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Organization Closed
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United Way branches locally to merge into one organization
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Six local United Way organizations are merging into one agency to serve Monroe, Genesee, Livingston, Ontario, Wayne and Wyoming Counties. Officials in the non-profit sector are calling it a momentous occasion. Jaime Saunders, who currently leads the Rochester-based United Way, will be the head of the new organization called the United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes. "This merger builds on the strength of six United Ways and gives us an opportunity to share best practices and learnings throughout the region,” Saunders said, adding that wherever people live, their United Way will remain local, and offer increased opportunities to make a difference in communities. Saunders said that the first formal actions of the new merged organization is to provide full pre-pandemic funding levels to its partner agencies. Saunders said a total of nearly $13 million will be invested in 190 programs region wide starting in August. Saunders said that as a regional United Way, donors and volunteers will have expanded opportunities, and nonprofit agencies will have access to the full breadth of services and supports, along with experience and insights from United Way team members who live and serve throughout the region. Officials with the United Way said taht all current staffers across the six counties will remain with the organization.
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Organization Merge
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Coffee sector revival: Growers seek special package over weak prices, freak weather patterns
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Reeling under the impact of weak prices and crop losses triggered by freak weather patterns in recent years, coffee growers have urged Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to consider a special package for the revival of the coffee sector A delegation of representatives of Karnataka Planters Association (KPA), United Planters Association of South India, Codagu Planters Association and Karnataka Growers Federation met the Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Wednesday. The delegation was led by BJP National General Secretary & Chikmagalur MLA, CT Ravi, and Chairman Coffee Board, Boje Gowda. Sitharaman was urged by the delegation to rephrase-reschedule all types of loans of all coffee growers including overdue and NPA into a single term loan and name it “Special Coffee Term Loan 2020” with a repayment period of seven years. The average rate of interest be calculated at 10 per cent per annum and interest burden be shared equally by the government, banks and growers, said S Appadurai, Chairman, KPA, in a statement. Also, the Finance Minister was urged to issue suitable directions and clarifications to the Banks to not take action under the Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Securities Interest Act (SARFAESI) Act against the coffee growers. Also see: How a Mumbai-based firm changed the method of exporting bananas, pomegranates KPA said representations have been received from growers that banks are taking action against them under the SARFAESI Act and auctioning their coffee plantations based on the Division Bench Judgement of the Karnataka High Court holding that under Section 31(i), the expression “agricultural land” does not include plantation lands including coffee plantations and so are not hit by Section 31(i). “Considering the plight of coffee growers who are facing severe financial stress, and as plantation lands are agriculture lands, it was requested to issue suitable directions and clarifications to Banks not to take action under the SARFAESI Act,” KPA said. For the past seven years, coffee growers are facing a severe financial crisis. The years 2016-17 and 2017-18 were drought years and erratic blossom and backing showers led to a set back in production. KPA further said that major coffee growing areas in Karnataka and Kerala constituting 90 per cent of India’s production were battered by heavy rains and landslides in 2018 and 2019 had resulted in more than 33 per cent crop loss. Since 2016, the downward trend in prices and increase in cost of production had further aggravated the crisis. Banks had rescheduled only standard loan accounts in 2018 and 2019 for one year. Majority of coffee growers could not benefit from this as they had suffered heavy losses due to droughts and heavy rains. The report of the task force formed by the Government of India recommended raising the ceiling of compensation from 2 hectares to 10 hectares under the disaster relief fund, rescheduling overdue loans, and extendin fresh loans at concessional rate of interest up to 10 hectares. As Covid-19 has further impacted coffee growers and has a long-term impact on exports and consumption in the West, the FM was urged to consider a special package for the revival of the coffee sector and address the financial crisis, KPA said.
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Financial Crisis
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NATO exercises sweep Europe amid Russian escalation, rising tensions between Moscow and US
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See exclusive look at US troops training European forces 02:44 Constanta, Romania (CNN) Lit only by an orange floodlight, a single file of camouflaged men crept along the wall of a small, dark Romanian port on the Black Sea. Suddenly, they opened fire on the two men guarding a darkened warehouse with broken windows. Moving past the fallen guards, an American voice - among the mix of men speaking accented English -- shouted at two others in a car: "Get out! Hurry up, hurry up." The team of US Navy SEALs, along with Romanian and Spanish Special Forces, quickly and quietly worked their way through the warehouse, firing on enemy fighters and, when possible, taking them prisoner. When the operation was done, the assaulting team -- whose ammunition had consisted of plastic projectiles and paint rounds -- was told by an instructor they had passed the course and to get back in position to run it again. The SEALs, from Virginia Beach, are in Romania this month as part of a contingent of American special forces taking part in the " Trojan Footprint " military exercises across five Eastern European countries that involve 600 NATO and non-NATO forces, including troops from Ukraine and Georgia, which have both been invaded by Russia in recent years. The training is taking place alongside this month's much larger Defender-Europe 21 NATO joint exercises, which have some 28,000 forces participating from 26 different countries. Both sets of military training exercises, while long-planned, follow a series of aggressive Russian military moves across Europe. CNN was given exclusive access to see the American special forces - the SEALs and US Army's Green Berets - exercise in Romania and North Macedonia over several days. In central Romania, the Green Berets fast roped and rappelled down from helicopters alongside Ukrainian and Romanian soldiers before blasting and shooting their way into a makeshift house. An American special tactics officer teaches Macedonian forces to call in airstrikes in North Macedonia. In North Macedonia, American special air tactics airmen taught local troops how to call in targets for an AC-130 plane that was firing on a distant ridgeline, the Macedonians carefully annunciating the coordinates in halting English. One salvo, called in by an American officer, was significantly off target, appearing to be the result of a misunderstanding between the ground and air forces: A potentially deadly mistake that spoke to why live fire training is so vital. The annual exercises were canceled last year during the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic and while they are over a year in the making, it is lost on no one that they coincide with a dramatic escalation of tension between Russia and the West. "We have to be strong and supportive of our allies when there is a threat," said David Muniz, the most senior US diplomat in Romania who serves as the embassy's chargé d'affaires. "When we are strong, when we are united, it has a real chilling effect, shall we say, on the kinds of things that can happen." "In this way, you cut down on the chance for mischief," he added, shortly before American paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division poured out of transport planes over a Romanian airfield in Boboc. An exercise in the Black Sea led by US Navy SEALs, along with Spanish and Romanian naval forces in Mangalin, Romania. While some Russian forces have recently pulled back from their deployment to the border with Ukraine, Russia's navy has also carried out exercises in the Black Sea, challenged Ukrainian Coast Guard vessels in the same waters and closed down parts of the small sea around the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow invaded and annexed in 2014. Few diplomatic or military officials -- American or otherwise - wanted to speak specifically about the Russian threat though several privately admitted there's no doubt it is hanging over these exercises. "It's just showing everybody that we have a capability and we can use it when necessary," said Major General Joe Jarrard, the deputy commander of the US Army in Europe and Africa, downplaying the significance of the timing of the exercises. "We're going to continue to develop our readiness and the interoperability between all of the allies and partners and so that's what we're continuing to focus on." The head of Romania's special forces, which copied much from the Americans during the development of their forces, admitted that the Russian maneuvers not far from their coastline in the Black Sea are unsettling. "They should be of concern for us," said Lieutenant General Daniel Petrescu. "Our job is to train harder and harder and be prepared for everything." Humvees and troops prepare to join a military training with US, Ukrainian and Romanian special forces in Reghin, Romania. Since April, the US has sanctioned Russia for its interference in the 2020 election, the SolarWinds hack and the poisoning of activist Alexey Navalny. The two sides have expelled a number of each other's diplomats . Ahead of a proposed summit between Presidents Joe Biden and Vladimir Putin in June, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Ukraine, where he cautioned that Russia could reverse a recent withdrawal of some of the tens of thousands of troops that had amassed along the border with Ukraine. "Russia has the capacity on fairly short notice to take aggressive action if it so chooses, and so we are watching this very, very carefully," Blinken said in a May 6 press conference with Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky. "We discussed in some detail the support that we're providing, we'll continue to provide to Ukraine to continue to strengthen its security, its defenses," Blinken said. From the Black Sea, Russia could also launch an attack on Ukraine's mainland, the former commander of NATO, James Stavridis wrote in a recent column . "The objective would be to neutralize the Ukrainian naval forces, gain complete sea control in the northern Black Sea, cut off Ukrainian military forces from their supply lines, and obtain dominance over a section of land that could connect Russia with Crimea," Stavridis wrote. Biden says his 'hope and expectation' is to meet Putin on upcoming Europe trip Last month, the Pentagon scratched plans to send two destroyers into the Black Sea but the US Coast Guard has sent the Hamilton cutter, which the Navy's 6th Fleet said was there "to support NATO allies and partners." It has been photographed being shadowed by a Russian patrol vessel. A Russian attack on Ukraine would not necessarily compel the US and the rest of NATO to intervene, since it is not part of the alliance. NATO did not respond militarily to Russia's annexation of Crimea but has refused to recognize it as Russian territory. A big part of the aim of the NATO exercises now, beyond sending a message to Russia and others, is simply at a tactical level: should the allies and partners need to join a fight together, they know how to work alongside each other and cross-pollinate with other countries' equipment. "It's just to build that knowledge with each other," said a Green Beret operator who CNN wasn't allowed to identify. "It shows that we're willing to learn from each other. It is important, significant, whatever's going on around the world."
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Military Exercise
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1981 Pushkin Tu-104 crash
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On 7 February 1981, a Tupolev Tu-104 passenger jet crashed during take off from Pushkin Airport near Leningrad (today's Saint Petersburg), Russia, resulting in the death of all 50 people on board, including 28 high-ranking Soviet military personnel. The official investigation concluded that the aircraft was improperly loaded. At 18:00 local time the Tu-104 lined up on runway 21 and commenced its take-off run during snowing weather conditions. After rotation the aircraft pitched up beyond normal take off attitude and eight seconds after lift off, at an altitude above ground level (AGL) of 50 meters the Tupolev stalled and entered a right bank. The aircraft continued to roll right until it struck the ground 20 meters from the departure end of the runway, crashing nearly inverted and bursting into flames, killing 49 of the 50 people on board. One person who was in the cockpit was ejected from the nose of the aircraft and was found alive in the snow not far from the crash site but died on the way to a hospital. [1][2][3][4][5]
The Tupolev Tu-104A involved was serial number 76600402 and registered as CCCP-42332 to the Soviet Navy. The construction of the airliner was completed on 26 November 1957. [1]
The investigation of the accident revealed that the crew allowed the aircraft to be improperly loaded. Evidence was uncovered that led investigators to believe that some military officers did not comply with seating assignments given by the crew and that these officers pressured the crew to make the flight in an unsafely loaded aircraft. Another factor reported by witnesses was that large rolls of paper were loaded on board and it is believed that these rolled rearward during acceleration on take off, causing the center of gravity (CG) to shift aft of acceptable limits thereby reducing the stability of the aircraft in pitch, making it impossible for the crew to lower the nose. [1][2][3][4][5]
The Tupolev Tu-10A was carrying many of the Pacific Fleet's senior officers from Leningrad, where they had been attending meetings with the naval command, to Vladivostok, via Khabarovsk. Among the dead were 16 admirals and generals, including the commander of the Pacific Fleet, Admiral Emil Spiridonov and his wife. They were both interred with most of the other victims of the crash in the Serafimovskoe Cemetery in Leningrad, where a memorial to the dead was erected on the orders of the Navy's Commander-in-Chief, Sergey Gorshkov. [6] A memorial service is held annually on 7 February at the St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral in St Petersburg, and on the twentieth anniversary of the crash the line “Those who died in the line of duty on 7 February 1981” and an Orthodox cross were added to the memorial stele commemorating the Pacific Navy sailors. [6]
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Air crash
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Indigenous villagers concerned about town water source after approval of granite quarry
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The Indigenous village of Roelands in Western Australia's south-west is a special place for the handful of people who live there.
From the early 1940s it was used as a mission for stolen generations children.
Roelands CEO Les Wallam was just four years old when he first came to the village.
He helped in the fight to reclaim the land 17 years ago.
"We all got together as ex-mission children, those who call this place home, who love this place and still call it home today," he said.
"We all banded together, because the place was put up for auction and we had to move quick."
But now he said there was another fight on his hands, with the approval of a granite quarry on a neighbouring property.
Mining company B&J Catalano has been given approval for the quarry to be set up.
It has angered Roelands residents, who are worried about the future of the settlement.
"So that will be drilling, blasting, crushing and you'd have heavy vehicle trucks and machinery up there making a racket," Mr Wallam said.
"And obviously the water — we're really worried about the water."
One of the major concerns for villagers is run-off from the quarry contaminating the waterways, including the dam that supplies them with fresh drinking water.
Resident James Khan grew up learning dreamtime stories of the waterways and their significance to Indigenous Australians.
He said he would fight against the quarry in order protect the water.
"It was a survival kit and it still is today. And if it's destroyed, what's going to happen?" he said.
Roelands is also the home of former AFL footballer Syd Jackson, who returned to the village after spending time at the mission as a child.
"I regard it as my place," he said.
"We need to make sure nothing impinges on our property that's detrimental to the environment, the water and the wildlife in this area."
B&J Catalano declined to comment but the Department of Water and Environmental Regulation insisted the quarry operations will not impact on the Roelands dam.
The State Administrative Tribunal put several strict conditions on its approval, which will require the company to manage its operations without impacting on the surrounding environment.
It's prompted the Shire of Harvey to sign off on the plan, which it had rejected twice in the past.
Shire President Tania Jackson said the quarry operations will be monitored closely.
"I think with something like this you're always cautious. But we rely on best practice and that the proponent will in fact deliver the outcomes we expect."
Despite the project's approval, residents said they would not stop fighting for the quarry to be shelved.
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Environment Pollution
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Sewage leak closing Tasmanian oyster farms, deterring swimmers
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A sewage leak, which has closed some Tasmanian oyster farms, will cost jobs and hurt the economy in the St Helen's region, the mayor has warned.
Heavy rainfall on Friday caused a TasWater pump station to overflow and leak raw sewage into Georges Bay on the state's east coast.
The overflow has forced oyster farm's on the bay to close for three weeks, with current stocks unsuitable for consumption. Signs have also been set up around the bay's many beaches, warning people not to come into contact with the water.
Break O'Day Mayor Mick Tucker said he was "extremely concerned" about the economic loss.
"It's very, very unfortunate, and TasWater needs to address it," he said.
"We're extremely concerned about the economic loss and the employment at the oyster leases.
"That has a flow-on to our community as well as the branding."
Councillor Tucker said the region had some of the best oysters in the world, and the leak would affect production when it was most needed.
"We will all suffer because of this," he said.
Oyster grower Craig Lockwood is hopeful infrastructure upgrades will prevent future overflows.
"Once that's remedied, we should be safe in the future," he said.
Mr Lockwood said he took his stock out of the water the day before the heavy rain, but would soon run out of supply.
"This is the most important time of the year for us in terms of marketing stock," he said.
"It will have an impact if it goes into the third week."
Councillor Tucker said TasWater had been working on upgrading infrastructure in the area.
"We've got to keep pressure on Taswater to overcome this problem so this doesn't happen again."
He said swimming was possible outside Georges Bay at Binalong Bay and in the St Helens Point area.
In a statement, TasWater manager service performance Peter Januba said almost 100mm of rain had made it difficult for the Esplanade pump station to keep up with inflows.
"Heavy rainfall Friday morning resulted in an overflow of a St Helens sewage pump station into Georges Bay," he said.
"Early Friday morning we were in contact with relevant industry bodies to ensure swift action was taken.
"Initial sampling was undertaken as part of a sampling regime for the Esplanade and Beauty Bay and continues over this weekend." He said the tender process would begin this week for a $1.2-million upgrade of the pump station, which would help prevent future overflows. 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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School closure: The mountain of myths standing between our kids and education
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Saili and Mayank [names changed] live in a Mumbai slum, with their parents in a meagre dwelling, hardly 10ft x 10ft, divided into a bedroom and kitchen. They study in class 3 and class 7 respectively, in nearby schools. Scratch that. They are enrolled in schools would be more accurate, as any meaningful study or education has come to a stand-still since the school closure which began in March 2020. Their parents manage to earn about Rs 30,000 a month for the family, and luckily do not have the burden of school fee expenses, as they have been enrolled under the Right to Education quota. Both parents have to go to work, although the mother manages to work from home at times. The children’s grandmother can look after them during the day, but there is no separate smartphone for the children to attend online classes: they get to attend whenever either parent is at home. On being asked if she is able to follow what is taught during online classes, Saili hesitates, almost embarrassed, and then says “no”. When asked questions from his textbook, it is clear that Mayank too has difficulty in following online classes. Parents are unable to help due to lack of time, and it is almost impossible to ask questions or get feedback in online sessions. Their parents, too, are very concerned about the widening gap in understanding, as bridging this gap to catch up will appears to be a mammoth challenge given the continuing school closure. They are understandably anxious about their children’s future. Read more: Virtual classes for younger kids: An uphill journey for both teachers and parents A few houses away, Parul [name changed] lives with her sister and extended family; the joint family has seven children and five adults, including Parul’s grandmother. They all live in a two-room house. The family has only two smart-phones, and there are times when only one of them is available for children to use for their online classes: one or at most two devices to be shared across seven children in two rooms. Only two of the seven children have school admission under RTE, the rest have to pay the full fees. The fees itself amounts to about Rs 5000 per month for all the children, which is a heavy burden on the family’s monthly income of about Rs 30,000. Aside from this, the data plan for the phones costs about Rs 600 per month. The children have managed with hand-me-down books so far. Despite these Herculean efforts to just stay the course, online school is not very useful. Children have to time-share the available devices, and even while in session, the problem of lack of interaction means that understanding remains poor. Parul’s sister in class 4 is able to read her English book, and her cousin in class 3 is able to read with some difficulty. But neither understand what they read, even simple English sentences. The children go for private tuition at an additional expense of about Rs 350 per month per child, since there is no one to help at home, but that appears inadequate. The comprehension gap is widening with every additional day of school closure. That online schooling is a farce, especially for children in these families, is painfully obvious. Adding to the irony of the situation is the fact that the above locality has hardly had 1-2 COVID cases among hundreds of families in the whole of 2021. Official statistics show that urban slums were hardly hit in the 2nd wave, likely because most of them were exposed in the first wave and developed robust immunity. Read more: When the screen is your child’s classroom and playground Today, what stands between our children and their education and future is not the pandemic, but a mountain of myths: Myth-1: Online is education — Online is not education, as evidenced by the above anecdotes. Even pre-pandemic, online learning was at best a supplement, and that too for older children and college students. Younger children absolutely cannot learn online, and in fact they even forget skills. A study by Azim Premji University among children of classes 2-6 across 5 states of India, undertaken in January 2021, found that as much as 82% lost at least one mathematical skill and 92% lost at least one language skill, compared to the previous year. Even in affluent Netherlands with only a short lockdown and high speed broadband access, a research study concluded “students made little or no progress while learning from home”. Doctors in Bengaluru have reported that among children under the age of 5, there has been over a 10-fold increase in those with speech disorders, due to lack of social stimulation and increased screen time. Thus a loss of 1.5 years for a child can cause long-term harm. Myth-2: Children are susceptible to COVID — While the first myth underestimates the costs of school closure, the second myth is overestimation of COVID risk for children. Statistics clearly show that the risk of severe COVID in children is smaller than other (already small) risks they face in life: such as other diseases, and even traffic accidents. For children and young adults, the mental health issues arising from lockdown and loss of social contact is much more concerning than COVID. Scotland reports rising numbers of children reporting to hospital for self-harm. In the 14-19 age-group, US statistics reveal a 14% increase in non-COVID deaths in 2020, i.e. caused by lockdown-related mental health issues, while COVID deaths in this age-group is much rarer. Myth-3: COVID-19 vaccines for children are necessary — The second myth leads to the third: that COVID-19 vaccines for children are necessary before we can open schools. Not only is there no medical need for such vaccines, since children are already at low risk, but also, we will not know the rare and long-term effects of current vaccines on children for a few years. Universal vaccination of children without long-term testing would thus be tantamount to medical negligence. Myth-4: Schools are super-spreaders — It is a myth that schools are super-spreaders. Study after study done in various countries has concluded that schools do not contribute significantly to COVID spread. The inconsistency in India is even starker: even as we have had everything else open, including malls and theatres, schools remain suspended. In UNESCO’s website tracking school closures across the world, India has the dubious distinction of closing its schools for the maximum period of time. While the US CDC recommends opening of schools with masking and 3-foot distancing (revised from earlier 6-foot), Sweden has always kept its primary schools open, with no distancing or masking requirements for children. And a comparison between schools in Sweden and neighbouring Finland showed that school teachers were not at additional risk of COVID-19 due to in-person classes. Myth-5: The impending third wave will affect a lot of children — There have been a lot of claims, without any scientific basis, of an impending third wave which will affect children. Seroprevalence studies have shown that a vast majority of Indians have already been exposed to COVID-19. Despite schools being closed, children have also been exposed: we just did not know about it since severe COVID is very rare in children and young adults. School closure based on this mountain of myths is gross injustice being done to an entire generation of children. We as a nation must be extremely concerned about this. Those making decisions must be concerned that at least some of these children will grow up to write the history about the mindless injustice that was done to their generation. Will these decision makers redeem themselves at least now?
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Organization Closed
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Covid News: Delta Variant Is Overwhelming Alaska, Site of Worst U.S. Outbreak
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Police patrol Bondi Beach in Sydney last month. The Eastern Suburbs and affluent part of the city has been criticized for its relaxed approach to lockdown measures compared to the lower socio-economic areas in Western Sydney as coronavirus cases continue to rise.Credit...Matthew Abbott for The New York Times SYDNEY, Australia — In the war against the coronavirus’s Delta variant, few if any democracies have demanded as much of their people as Australia. In the middle of the latest lockdowns, the police in Sydney gave hefty fines to three mothers with strollers chatting in a park. Melbourne’s playgrounds were wrapped in police tape, and traveling from a state with Covid restrictions to one without — for the lucky few granted permission by the authorities — requires two-week stints in quarantine at a hotel or a remote former mining camp . There are now two Australias. In Perth, offices, pubs and stadiums are crammed and normal as ever — the payoff for a closed-border approach that has made Western Australia an island within an island. In Sydney, residents are approaching their 14th week of lockdown. The working-class areas with the highest infection rates have faced a heavy police presence, and, until recently, a 9 p.m. curfew and just an hour of outdoor exercise per day. Is the sacrifice worth it? Australia is at a crossroads with Covid. The confidence and pride of 2020, when lockdowns and isolation brought outbreaks to heel, have been replaced by doubt, fatigue and a bitter battle over how much freedom or risk should be allowed in a Delta-defined future. Some states are trying desperately to hold on to what worked before, while New South Wales and Victoria, home to the country’s biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne, are being forced by Delta outbreaks to find a more nuanced path forward. Prime Minister Scott Morrison has thrown his weight behind a plan to reopen when 80 percent of adults are fully vaccinated. But the road ahead may not be smooth — as shown by protests this week over a vaccine mandate — and state leaders are still insisting that they will go it alone. “We might be looking at the country turning the clock back on itself,” said Tim Soutphommasane, a political theorist at the University of Sydney. “There is an explicit insularity and parochialism that now dictates debate.” After weeks of planning, U.S. pharmacies and states are making Pfizer boosters available. Image A coronavirus vaccination clinic at Shorter Community AME Church in Denver in February.Credit...Kevin Mohatt for The New York Times On the heels of federal officials’ endorsement of booster shots of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine for many fully inoculated Americans, some states announced plans for getting even more shots in arms. Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, recommended on Friday morning vaccines for frontline workers, as well as for people older than 65 and many people with underlying health conditions, overruling an agency advisory panel . Individuals must also have received a second dose of the Pfizer vaccine at least six months ago. Tens of millions of Americans woke up eligible for booster shots. In one recent poll, about three-quarters of vaccinated Americans said they would opt for a booster if the doses were available, and some sought them out long before they were authorized . Federal officials recommended self-attestation on Friday as the best method to determine who could get a booster dose. “We’ve worked closely with partners including governors, pharmacies, doctors, long-term care facilities, and other providers, so that eligible Americans are able to get a booster shot at roughly 80,000 places across the country, including over 40,000 local pharmacies,” Jeffrey D. Zients, the White House coronavirus response coordinator, said at a news conference on Friday. More than 70 percent of current vaccine administration was already taking place in pharmacies, according to a C.D.C. presentation at the meeting of agency advisers on Thursday . CVS, Rite Aid and Walgreens all said that they would begin administering boosters on Friday. CVS said it will rely on “self-attestation” from customers to determine eligibility. State health departments generally follow the recommendations of the C.D.C., and many on Friday were eager to move ahead. In Maryland, Gov. Larry Hogan announced that all eligible state residents could immediately get booster shots following federal clearance, which he called “long overdue.” In Indiana, the health department announced that Pfizer boosters were now available to eligible residents. And in Vermont, officials said that residents ages 80 and older could register for boosters, and the state would expand eligibility to those 65 and older over the next week. Many states began organizing their booster rollouts shortly after President Biden announced a plan for Pfizer and Moderna boosters in mid-August , but the plan was followed by criticism that the White House was getting ahead of the regulatory process, and internal disagreement in the Biden administration about the need for boosters. Over the weeks, many independent scientists and regulators had emphasized that there was little research on who might benefit from the extra shots. Eventually the plan to quickly provide Moderna boosters was dropped , to give the F.D.A. more time to collect and study data. And scientific advisers to the F.D.A. and C.D.C. wrestled over the last week with who should get Pfizer boosters and why. In California, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a plan that will help eligible people access boosters, mainly through pharmacies and their primary care providers. Mass vaccination sites in the state could be reopened, according to the plan. Across the country, New York planned to help distribute the shots by making $65 million available to local health departments , who would lead the way on booster distribution, and offering training to more than 50,000 emergency medical technicians to administer the vaccine, Gov. Kathy Hochul said in recent weeks. “We think it’s really important that more people get this just as an extra layer of protection, like putting on an extra winter coat as the weather starts getting colder,” Ms. Hochul said at a news conference on Thursday, adding that boosters will be made available at pharmacies, nursing homes and on-site at different businesses. In New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio said earlier this month that the city would utilize more than 1,900 vaccination sites across the five boroughs and make various outreach efforts. He said eligible New Yorkers could get boosters “as of this exact moment” in an interview Friday morning on “ The Brian Lehrer Show ” on WNYC. Alison Beam, Pennsylvania’s acting health secretary, signed an order on Tuesday that will require vaccine providers to offer online scheduling for vaccine appointments, live scheduling assistance, walk-in appointments and coordination with local care agencies to help schedule homebound residents. In West Virginia , which faces some of the worst virus conditions of any state, Gov. Jim Justice and public health officials have been calling for federal regulators to sign off on boosters to shore up protection for older, more vulnerable citizens. “Our federal government moves like a turtle, and a lot of times it moves like a turtle in the wrong direction,” he said at a news conference on Friday . Maj. Gen. Jim Hoyer, a retired National Guard officer who leads the interagency task force that coordinates West Virginia’s vaccination efforts, said on Friday that boosters were already “being given as we are on this press conference.”
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Disease Outbreaks
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Not-for-profit Generic Drug Company Officially Established, Attracts Interest of More Than 120 Health Organizations
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Newsroom / Not-for-profit Generic Drug Company Officially Established, Attracts Interest of More Than 120 Health Organizations Not-for-profit Generic Drug Company Officially Established, Attracts Interest of More Than 120 Health Organizations 14 generic drugs used in hospitals are initial focus of efforts, CEO named September 06, 2018 Salt Lake City, UT – Civica Rx, the initiative previously known as Project Rx, is the name of a new not-for-profit generic drug company that will help patients by addressing shortages and high prices of lifesaving medications. Since the initiative was announced in January 2018, more than 120 health organizations representing about a third of the nation’s hospitals have contacted Civica Rx and expressed a commitment or interest in participating with the new company. The company is organized as a Delaware nonstock, not-for-profit corporation, and will be headquartered in Utah. Initial governing members of Civica Rx will include Catholic Health Initiatives, HCA Healthcare, Intermountain Healthcare, Mayo Clinic, Providence St. Joseph Health, SSM Health, and Trinity Health. These seven organizations, representing about 500 U.S. hospitals, will each provide leadership for the Civica Rx Board of Directors and will provide much of the initial capitalization for the company. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will also work in consultation with Civica Rx to address its particular needs. Other health systems participating with Civica Rx will be announced later this year. Three major philanthropies will also join Civica Rx as governing members: the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, the Peterson Center on Healthcare, and the Gary and Mary West Foundation.The engagement of philanthropic members is intended to further support and safeguard the company’s not-for-profit, social welfare mission. Civica Rx has identified 14 hospital-administered generic drugs as the initial focus of the company’s efforts. It will be an FDA approved manufacturer and will either directly manufacture generic drugs or sub-contract manufacturing to reputable contract manufacturing organizations. Martin VanTrieste, former chief quality officer for Amgen, one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, has been named CEO of Civica Rx. VanTrieste has more than 35 years of experience in pharmaceuticals and was ranked No. 2 on the 2018 Medicine Maker Power List of Industry Influencers. VanTrieste has agreed to lead Civica Rx without compensation. “We are creating a public asset with a mission to ensure that essential generic medications are accessible and affordable,” said VanTrieste. “The fact that a third of the country’s hospitals have either expressed interest or committed to participate with Civica Rx shows a great need for this initiative. This will improve the situation for patients by bringing much needed competition to the generic drug market.” Civica Rx will first seek to stabilize the supply of essential generic medications administered in hospitals, many of which have fallen into chronic shortage situations, putting patients at risk. The initiative will also result in lower costs and more predictable supplies of essential generic medicines, helping ensure that patients and their needs come first in the generic drug marketplace. Civica Rx expects to have its first products on the market as early as 2019. Research into the actual costs of manufacturing and distributing generic drugs suggests that, in many instances, prices for generic drugs used in hospitals can be reduced to a fraction of their current costs. This can save patients, and the healthcare systems that care for them, hundreds of millions of dollars each year. Civica Rx is collaborating with the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) newly formed AHA Center for Health Innovation to address inquiries about the initiative. Health systems and hospitals may call 800-242-4677 with questions, or visit www.civicarx.org for information. About Catholic Health Initiatives Catholic Health Initiatives, a faith-based health system formed in 1996, is one of the nation’s largest nonprofit health systems. Based in Englewood, Colo., CHI operates in 18 states and comprises 100 hospitals, including two academic health centers, major teaching hospitals and 29 critical-access facilities, representing approximately 1,230 sites of care. In fiscal year 2017, CHI provided $2.1 billion in charity care and community benefit, with operating revenues of $15.5 billion. www.catholichealthinitiatives.org About the Gary and Mary West Foundation Inspired by its founders and sole funders, Gary and Mary West, the Gary and Mary West Foundation is dedicated to lowering healthcare costs and increasing access to high-quality, affordable models of care that enable seniors to successfully age in place. As part of the West Health family of nonprofit, nonpartisan organizations based in San Diego and Washington D.C., the Foundation works with its Institute and Policy Center using philanthropy, applied medical research and advocacy to transform healthcare across America. About HCA Healthcare HCA Healthcare is a leading provider of healthcare, comprising 178 hospitals and approximately 1,800 care sites in 20 states and the United Kingdom. With its founding in 1968, HCA Healthcare created a new model for hospital care, using combined resources to strengthen hospitals, deliver patient-focused care and improve the practice of medicine. HCA Healthcare is a learning healthcare system, using more than 28 million annual patient encounters to advance science, improve care and save lives. About Intermountain Healthcare Intermountain Healthcare is a Utah-based not-for-profit system of 23 hospitals, 170 clinics, a Medical Group with about 2,300 employed physicians and advanced practice clinicians, a health plans group called SelectHealth, and other medical services. Intermountain is widely recognized as a leader in transforming healthcare through high quality and sustainable costs. For more information about Intermountain, visit www.intermountainhealthcare.org . About Laura and John Arnold Foundation The Laura and John Arnold Foundation’s core objective is to improve the lives of individuals by strengthening our nation’s social, governmental, and economic systems. Its investments are focused on criminal justice, health care, sustainable public finance, evidence-based policy and several other key areas. LJAF has offices in Houston, New York City, and Washington, D.C. About Mayo Clinic Mayo Clinic is a nonprofit organization committed to clinical practice, education and research, providing expert, comprehensive care to everyone who needs healing. Learn more about Mayo Clinic . Visit the Mayo Clinic News Network . About Peterson Center on Healthcare The Peterson Center on Healthcare is a non-profit organization dedicated to making higher quality, more affordable healthcare a reality for all Americans. The organization is working to transform U.S. healthcare into a high-performance system by finding innovative solutions that improve quality and lower costs, and accelerating their adoption on a national scale. Established by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the Center collaborates with stakeholders across the healthcare system and engages in grant-making, partnerships, and research. About Providence St. Joseph Health Providence St. Joseph Health is a national, Catholic not-for-profit health system, comprising a diverse family of organizations. Together, PSJH is committed to improving the health of the communities it serves, especially those who are poor and vulnerable. With 51 hospitals, 829 physician clinics, senior services, supportive housing and many other health and educational services, the health system and its partners employ 119,000 caregivers (employees) serving communities across seven states—Alaska, California, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon, Texas and Washington. For more information about PSJH, visit www.psjhealth.org . About SSM Health SSM Health is a Catholic, not-for-profit health system serving the comprehensive health needs of communities across the Midwest through a robust and fully integrated health care delivery system. With more than 40,000 employees and 10,000 providers, SSM Health includes 24 hospitals, more than 300 physician offices and other outpatient care sites, 10 post-acute facilities, comprehensive home care and hospice services, a pharmacy benefit company, a health insurance company, an accountable care organization, and virtual care. About Trinity Health Trinity Health is one of the largest Catholic health systems in the nation, serving communities through 94 hospitals and 109 continuing care locations in 22 states by the efforts of 133,000 colleagues and 7,800 employed physicians and clinicians. Based in Livonia, Mich., and with annual operating revenues of $17.6 billion and assets of $24.7 billion, the organization returns $1.1 billion to its communities annually in the form of charity care and other community benefit programs.
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Organization Established
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57 arrested in Basra bank robbery
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British soldiers arrested 57 Iraqis after an audacious bid to rob a branch of the national bank in central Basra, an officer said. Lieutenant William Horley of the Irish Guards says the group managed to blast open one of six vaults in the bank with grenades, which they had attached to one-metre thick concrete walls after breaking in through the basement of the building. He says the sound of the blasts alerted British troops in a nearby base and "we caught 57 red-handed". "They had bin bags full of notes, pressed and bound up in cellophane," he said. Most of Basra's banks were raided in the aftermath of the city's fall to British troops nearly two weeks ago but the manager of the central bank was confident security measures were adequate to prevent an attack on his establishment, Lt Horley said. British tanks have now been placed outside the branch in a bid to prevent any further bid to storm the bank. Money and gold bullion in the remaining vaults is now likely to be transferred to a more secure location. The officer says pools of blood had been found in the basement, possibly indicating that shots had been exchanged between rival robbers, but no bodies or injured people were found at the scene.
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Bank Robbery
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Locusts swarm through drought-stricken Ethiopia’s crops
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If the difficult litany of this year’s climate change news has you wondering when there will be a plague of locusts next, well, there is – and there’s no joke when it comes to how millions of the voracious, crop-eating pests may affect Ethiopia. “Urgent control operations are required to manage the situation and protect the livelihood of the population in eastern Ethiopia and possibly the neighboring countries,” says Fatouma Seid, the country representative for the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO). The FAO issued Sunday a new update on the Desert Locust, which is a perennial threat to Horn of Africa and some Gulf nations. It was the latest warning from FAO this year, as the 2019 locust situation threatens a humanitarian crisis where crops have been destroyed. Dr. Stephen W. Njoka, a Kenyan agricultural expert directing efforts with the Desert Locust Control Organization for East Africa (DLCO-EA), has appealed to all stakeholders to “prevent a disaster from happening” where an estimated 7.8 million people already need food aid. According to the DLCO-EA, the locusts pose no threat when their numbers are small, but changes in climate-related rainfall patterns – heavy this year – boost Desert Locust breeding. Habitat conditions can lead to various phases of recessions, outbreak or upsurges, known in very high numbers as plagues. This year’s locust swarms follow a well-documented drought in Ethiopia, its second severe drought in less than two years, according to United States agency USAID. That’s proved fatal to people and livestock. The locusts are making a bad situation worse. A swarm of a half-million locusts, each weighing two grams and eating about their weight, will consume a ton of vegetation every day. That, the DLCO-EA says, is enough to feed about 2,500 people. In response, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Agriculture said last week it was beginning a spraying campaign in affected states that include Amhara and Somali in the country’s north. It’s there that the Desert Locust, traveling from the Middle East, has swarmed into Ethiopia. They’re eating through 8,700 metric tons of green vegetation every day, FAO said, and hopper bands – young locust populations moving together – have been present in 60 percent of the Ethiopian land surveyed between July and September. Some 30 million hoppers can land on a one-kilometer square area at one time, leading quickly to a crisis. The alarm over locusts also prompted Ethiopians to deploy more traditional techniques to try and protect their crops, as well as the pastoral lands and forests that can be laid bare by the insects. The Ethiopian agricultural ministry shared an account from the rural villages of the North Wollo Zone of Amhara, where people are getting up at dawn to chase locusts away with shouts and slingshots. Locals say there have been some successes but at the same time, they’re forming a group of scientific experts to share information. As they do, the FAO warned that locust breeding – also a serious threat to India and Pakistan – is expected to continue on the Red Sea coast of Yemen, in Saudi Arabia and Eritrea, and extend into Sudan. Now it’s also spreading from Ethiopia too. “Small swarms may arrive in Eritrea and northern Somalia from Ethiopia and continue to southern Ethiopia and northeast Kenya,” the latest update said. “Breeding will cause hopper bands to form in some areas.”
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Insect Disaster
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Children’s Hospital: 2 more Waukesha parade victims head home, 1 child remains
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When the tragedy first happened on Nov. 21, 18 children were taken to be treated at Children’s hospital. Unfortunately, 8-year-old Jackson Sparks passed away at Children’s Hospital on Nov. 23. Many of the other young victims have been recovering and returning home following the devastation of the parade. TMJ4 spent some time with Olivia Stover , an 8-year-old dancer who was struck during the parade. She was released earlier this month from Children’s Hospital and is continuing her recovery at home. Erick Tiegs, a 16-year-old marching band member, came home from Children’s Hospital in late November as well, after spending a few days in the ICU. These are just a few of the patients who’ve recovered from the tragedy.
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Famous Person - Recovered
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Armed robbery at Victor Harbor as police search for man with gun who fled on foot
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Armed robbery at Victor Harbor as police search for man with gun who fled on foot Keep up to date with the latest COVID-19 exposure sites in Queensland Police are searching for a man believed to be carrying a gun who robbed a bank at Victor Harbor south of Adelaide. Detectives said the man told staff he had a gun when he entered the Bank SA branch on Ocean Street about 1:15pm. No-one was injured and police said no-one saw a weapon. The man fled with cash and was last seen on foot opposite the bank. He is described as 183 centimetres tall, weighing 80 to 90 kilograms with a slim build, light brown complexion and was wearing black sunglasses and dark clothing. Anyone with information should call Crime Stoppers.
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Bank Robbery
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Famines in Ethiopia
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Famines in Ethiopia occurred periodically due to a number of reasons throughout the history of the country, which was formerly known as Abyssinia. The economy of Ethiopia was based on subsistence agriculture, with an aristocracy that consumed the surplus. Due to a number of causes, the peasants have lacked incentives to either improve production or to store their excess crops; as a result, they lived from harvest to harvest. Despite the extensive modernization of Ethiopia in the last 120 years, as of 2016, about 80% of the population are poor farmers who still live from harvest to harvest and are vulnerable to crop failures. [1]
It saw the death of Nur ibn Mujahid, Emir of Harrar, by typhus: as J. Spencer Trimingham describes, Emir Nur "exerted every effort to help his people to recover, but after every respite the Oromo would again descend like locusts and scourge the country, and Nur himself died (975/1567–8) of the pestilence which spread during the famine. "[5]
Occurring under the reign of Emperor Susenyos I, the plague was referred to as manan tita (literally 'whom did it leave?'). Many people died, particularly in the province of Dembiya. [6]:52–3[7]
It is said that an epidemic of kantara or fangul (cholera) afflicted Dembiya, which then spread into Tigray. [6]:63
Dejazmach Hailu Eshte, who was then living in Este, settled many "needy people" in his villages as guards. "And hearing of this report... many commanders who acted as he did adopted his example for themselves. "[11]:411
This Ethiopian history–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
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Famine
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1975 Devastation Glacier landslide
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The 1975 Devastation Glacier landslide was a massive rock avalanche that originated from Devastation Glacier on the southern flank of the Mount Meager massif on July 22, 1975. [1] It had a volume of 13,000,000 m3 (460,000,000 cu ft) and buried and killed a group of four geologists at the confluence of Devastation Creek and Meager Creek. [2][3]
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Volcano Eruption
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1975 Banqiao Dam failure
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The 1975 Banqiao Dam failure (simplified Chinese: 河南“75·8”水库溃坝; traditional Chinese: 河南「75·8」水庫潰壩) was the collapse of the Banqiao Dam and 61 other dams in Henan, China under the influence of Typhoon Nina in August 1975. [1][2][3][4] The dam collapse created the third-deadliest flood in history which affected a total population of 10.15 million and inundated around 30 cities and counties of 12,000 square kilometers (or 3 million acres), with an estimated death toll ranging from 26,000 to 240,000. [1][3][4][5][6] The flood also caused the collapse of 6.8 million[5] or over 5 million[7] houses. The dam failure took place during the Cultural Revolution when most people were busy with the "revolution". [4] The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) as well as the Chinese government subsequently hid the details of the disaster until the 1990s, when The Great Floods in China's History (中国历史大洪水), a book prefaced by Qian Zhengying who served as the Minister of Water Resources of China in the 1970s and 1980s, revealed details of the disaster to the public for the first time. [5][8][9][10][11]
Most of the dams that collapsed in this disaster were built with the help of experts from the Soviet Union or during the Chinese Great Leap Forward. [2][5][8][9][12] The construction of the dams focused heavily on the goal of retaining water and overlooked their capacities to prevent floods, while the quality of the dams was also compromised due to the Great Leap Forward. [2][5][8][9] Some experts have also pointed out that the Great Leap Forward as well as "Learn from Dazhai in agriculture" severely damaged the ecosystem and forest cover in the region, which was a major cause of the flood, and the government's mishandling of the dam failure contributed to the casualties. [5][8] The official documents of the disaster were declassified in 2005 by the Chinese government. [9][11][13] In May 2005, the Banqiao Dam failure was rated No.1 in "The Ultimate 10 Technological Disasters" of the world by Discovery Channel, outranking the Chernobyl nuclear disaster. [4][5][14]
Starting in the early 1950s, three major reservoirs and dams, including Banqiao Dam, Shimantan Dam and the Baisha Dam, were under construction in Zhumadian of Henan Province. [6][15] The long term project, under the name of "Harness the Huai River", was launched to prevent flooding and to utilize the water for irrigation and generating electricity. [2][6][15]
At the time, Chinese construction workers had no experience with building major reservoirs and, as a result, the design and construction was completely under the guidance of experts from the Soviet Union. [2][12] The design of the dams overly focused on the purpose of water storage while overlooking the capacities of preventing floods. [8][15] By 1953, the construction work at the three reservoirs was completed, but a "reinforcement" project on Banqiao and Shimantan dams was further carried out between 1955-1956 following the instructions of the Soviet Union. [2][5][6] After renovations, the Banqiao dam was known as the "Iron Dam (铁壳坝)" to reflect its invincibility. [2][4][6]
During the Great Leap Forward launched by Mao Zedong, over 100 dams were built in the Zhumadian region from 1957–1959. [8][15] Tan Zhenlin, then Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, issued the guidelines on reservoir construction during his trip to Henan Province: "focusing on retaining water, building more small reservoirs". [15] At the time, "retaining more water" meant "more revolutionary". [8]
On the other hand, the intense production of steel during the Great Leap Forward as well as the "Learn from Dazhai in agriculture" program launched by Mao severely damaged the ecosystem in the Zhumadian region. [8] The percentage of forest cover dropped drastically and land degradation was prevalent, which, according to most experts, were the major causes of floods. [8]
Chen Xing, then chief engineer of the dam projects, opposed the ideas of constructing too many dams as well as prioritizing the goal of "retaining water". [2][5][12] He pointed out that the local geographical conditions made it unreasonable to overly emphasize the reservoir's function of water storage, because otherwise there was risk of creating serious floods and other disasters such as alkalinization of farm land. [5][6][8] Nevertheless, Chen's warning was ignored and he was criticized for being a "Rightist" and "Opportunist"; he was subsequently removed from his post and was sent to Xinyang. [5][6][8]
The collapse of the dams occurred during the Chinese Cultural Revolution (1966-1976), when most people were busy with the "revolution" and had little time with the dams while it was raining heavily. [4] In fact, there were no resources or equipments available to prevent the flood. [4]
After the disaster, Zhang Guangyou (张广友), a journalist from the Xinhua News Agency visited the area and interviewed several experts, who were afraid to express their opinions in public lest they be condemned for "questioning Cultural Revolution" and "questioning Chairman Mao". [8] However, the experts told Zhang privately that the land degradation and the damage to the ecosystem due to Mao's Great Leap Forward were the major causes of the collapse of the dams. [8]
Communication with the dam was largely lost due to failures. On August 6, a request to open the dam was rejected because of the existing flooding in downstream areas. On August 7 the request was accepted, but the telegrams failed to reach the dam. [16] The sluice gates were not able to handle the overflow of water partially due to sedimentation blockage. [17] On August 7 at 21:30, the People's Liberation Army Unit 34450 (by name the 2nd Artillery Division in residence at Queshan county), which was deployed on the Banqiao Dam, sent the first dam failure warning via telegraph. On August 8, at 01:00, water at the Banqiao crested at the 117.94 m level above sea level, or 0.3 meter higher than the wave protection wall on the dam, and it failed. The same storm caused the failure of 62 dams in total. The runoff of Banqiao Dam was 13,000 m3 per second in vs. 78,800 m3 per second out, and as a result 701 million m3 of water was released in 6 hours,[11] while 1.67 billion m3 of water was released in 5.5 hours at an upriver Shimantan Dam, and 15.738 billion m3 of water was released in total. [3]
The resulting flood waters caused a wave 10 kilometers (6.2 mi) wide and 3–7 meters (9.8–23.0 ft) high in Suiping (遂平) that rushed onto the plains below at nearly 50 kilometers per hour (31 mph), almost wiping out an area 55 kilometers (34 mi) long and 15 kilometers (9.3 mi) wide, and creating temporary lakes as large as 12,000 square kilometers (4,600 sq mi). Seven county seats, Suiping, Xiping (西平), Ru'nan (汝南), Pingyu (平舆), Xincai (新蔡), Luohe (漯河), and Linquan (临泉) were inundated, as were thousands of square kilometers of countryside and countless communities. Evacuation orders had not been fully delivered due to weather conditions and poor communications. Telegraphs failed, signal flares fired by Unit 34450 were misunderstood, telephones were rare, and some messengers were caught by the flood. [3]
To protect other dams from failure, several flood diversion areas were evacuated and inundated, and several dams were deliberately destroyed by air strikes to release water in desired directions. The Nihewa and Laowangpo flood diversion areas downstream of the dams soon exceeded their capacity and gave up part of their storage on August 8, forcing more flood diversion areas to begin to evacuate. [3]
The dikes on the Quan River collapsed in the evening of August 9, and the entire Linquan county in Fuyang, Anhui was inundated. As the Boshan Dam, with a capacity of 400 million m3, crested and the water released from the failures of Banqiao and Shimantan was rushing downstream, air strikes were made against several other dams to protect the Suya Lake dam, already holding 1.2 billion m3 of water. [18]
The Jingguang Railway, a major artery from Beijing to Guangzhou, was cut for 18 days, as were other crucial communications lines. Although 42,618 People's Liberation Army troops were deployed for disaster relief, all communication to and from the cities was cut. [11] Nine days later there were still over a million people trapped by the waters, who relied on airdrops of food and were unreachable by disaster relief workers. Epidemics and famine devastated the trapped survivors. The damage of the Zhumadian area was estimated to be about CN¥3.5 billion (US$513 million). [19] The Zhumadian government appealed to the whole nation for help, and received more than CN¥300 million (US$44,000,000) in donations.
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Floods
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2006 European floods
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From February to April 2006 many rivers across Europe, especially the Elbe and Danube, swelled due to heavy rain and melting snow and rose to record levels. These are the longest rivers in Central Europe. High Danube levels caused significant flooding in parts of Serbia, Bulgaria and Romania, with damage to property and infrastructure in localities near the shores of the river. The effects of high water across Southeastern Europe were blamed on the poor levee systems in the affected countries. In Vidin an industrial district was flooded and over 300 people were evacuated to a tent city about 20 kilometers from the town. In Lom, Bulgaria 25 houses, a hotel, the port (which is the second biggest Bulgarian port on the River Danube), and the Danube Park were flooded. Boruna quarter in the north-western part of the city has declared a state of emergency. Of the 30,000 people who live in Lom, 6,000 people are in danger due to the flooding. The two schools are prepared to accommodate any people if found necessary. A few blocks along the water's edge in the city of Nikopol were flooded. 60 people were evacuated and 57 buildings have been flooded so far as well as the main road from Nikopol west towards Pleven. In Rousse the Danube reached 9 meters, beating the previous record at 8,88 from 1970. In total at least 400 buildings on Bulgaria's northern border have been flooded and several have been completely destroyed. The 2006 European floods were one of the most devastating natural disaster from the History of Romania. Although there were no human victims, the estimated damage is thought to surpass the floods of 1970. By April 16 over 848 houses were reportedly flooded, with 221 destroyed. [1] The height of the Danube at the beginning of the flood was still below the record level registered in 1895. [2] Romanian officials ordered the controlled flooding of thousands of hectares of unused agricultural spaces to prevent further damage in cities across Romania. On April 16, in the localities of Rast and Negoi, Dolj County, more than 800 residents were evacuated, as a dam collapsed due to the rising waters of the Danube. Hundreds of houses were flooded and more than 100 of them collapsed. By April 22, the number of people evacuated from the locality reached 4,000. [3] In the port city of Călărași, a recently opened hotel was flooded on Monday, April 17, causing significant damage to the building and leading to the evacuation of tens of tourists. [4]
By this date, the floods had swamped 730 km2 (280 square miles) of land, 400 kilometres (250 mi) of roads and destroyed 20 bridges, while also causing agricultural damage amounting to 4.6 million lei (US$1.5 million). Additionally, five of Romania's nine Danube ports were closed during the flooding period. [1] However, Romanian authorities said on April 22 that the worst of the flooding had passed. Elena Anghel, hydrologist at Romania's National Hydrology Institute stated that, "The forecasts are optimistic. The river will probably remain stable for another two days and then start to fall. "[3]
However, by April 28, after several weeks of pressure, key levées along the Danube began collapsing in the counties of Dolj, Călărași, Constanța, Tulcea and Galați. The authorities carried out further evacuations in these regions, the number of evacuated people rising to 16,000. By this date, over 300 houses were completely destroyed with more than 150 villages and towns being directly affected by the floods. [5]
On April 16, 2006, a state of emergency was declared in 10 regions of Serbia. [2] The areas around Serbia's second largest city Novi Sad were particularly vulnerable. [6] A dozen cities were damaged and hundreds of people were evacuated. Near Veliko Gradište, the Danube reached heights as high as 9.65 meters (over 30 ft). Many people left the regions because water could not be purified. Floods were also reported in the Republic of Macedonia, where several villages were flooded in Macedonia's Pelagonija Valley. The Elbe River also rose 13 centimeters higher than in 2002 in some areas, creating 150-year-record-highs. In Germany, the medieval town of Hitzacker had water levels of 7.63 meters, destroying many buildings and causing considerable damage to other private property. Also affected was the town of Lauenburg. The German federal state of Saxony and the Czech Republic were not as affected, because in the four years after the record floodings of 2002, the two partners built a stronger levee system along the Elbe. On April 17, all states of emergencies in all counties of the German federal states of Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Brandenburg were rescinded. The Danube river was at its peak 865 cm (28 ft 4 in) high in Budapest, Hungary, higher than the previous record of 848 cm in 2002. During the floods, approximately 11,000 buildings were in danger of flood damage, 32,000 people were threatened by the water, and 1.72 square kilometres (475 acres) of land were actually under water. Officials also placed most of the area near the Danube under a Level 3 Alert (on a 3-level scale). The flood was so severe that it threatened to spill into the underground in Budapest, through the Batthyány tér station — this, however, did not occur. The underground train stations Batthyány tér and Margit híd (HÉV) were closed out of precaution. The timing of the flood, incidentally, coincided with the Hungarian general elections. Many dikes and levees breached because of a poor construction by local and national officials and of an unusual long and hard winter in Central Europe. The snowfall lasted well into April and many areas were frozen, so frost emerged, soaking the earth full of water. The Red Cross sent humanitarian aid in the form of blankets and mattresses to affected areas.
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Floods
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Accrediting group plans campus visit to examine allegations at UF
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After an onsite visit, a team from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools will present its findings to the association’s board of trustees in June. [ University of Florida ]
Published Yesterday
Updated Yesterday
Officials at the University of Florida have worked to quiet the reaction to recent allegations that the school has stifled free speech and harmed academic freedom.
UF president Kent Fuchs says the university is committed to those principles and will try to improve. Board of trustees chairperson Mori Hosseini called the allegations false and said those who made them were disrespectful.
But the organization that accredits the university wants to come to campus and investigate before drawing any conclusions. In a letter to the school this week, the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools said after reviewing media reports and materials sent by the university it has determined “there may be sufficient factual information supporting significant noncompliance with the principles of accreditation.”
After an onsite visit, the letter said, a team from the association will present its findings to the association’s board of trustees in June. It said UF would be informed of the board’s decision within two weeks.
The letter was sent by Belle Wheelan, president of the association’s board.
The association is the accrediting organization for universities in the southeastern United States. A loss of accreditation could lead to a loss of research dollars and federal aid for students. And problems with accreditation could jeopardize UF’s hard-won status as a Top 5 public university.
The allegations arose earlier this semester after three UF political science professors were initially barred from testifying against the state in a lawsuit over Florida’s new voting laws. The university later allowed the three to testify, but the policy that gave rise to the initial decision remained, prompting the faculty members to sue UF in federal court.
Since then, more allegations have surfaced from a Faculty Senate task force, including reported pressures on those doing work surrounding race and COVID-19. The university launched its own investigation into a report alleging that UF researchers had felt pressure to destroy data about the virus.
In a November news release, Fuchs stated “unequivocally” that UF’s decisions were not influenced by pressure from outside the university.
University spokeswoman Hessy Fernandez said in a statement that the administration is committed to working with faculty to “implement and strengthen policies and transparency” in keeping with a task force set up by Fuchs and a Faculty Senate committee looking at academic freedom issues.
“We have a shared desire to ensure that academic freedom is preserved and protected at the University of Florida,” the statement said. “To that end, we welcome the pending review by (the accrediting organization) and will cooperate fully with the committee’s work.”
Earlier this year, the association launched an inquiry into the hiring process at Florida State University after education commissioner Richard Corcoran was named as a shortlisted candidate. Corcoran did not progress as a finalist and the Board of Governors later lambasted Wheelan for getting involved.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate
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ANTHONY HALL robbed a bank
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Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that ANTHONY HALL, 60, of Montville, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to one count of bank robbery. According to court documents and statements made in court, in April 2011, Anthony Hall was sentenced in Hartford federal court to 87 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for robbing four Connecticut banks in 2008 and 2009. He was released from federal custody in January 2016. On September 13, 2019, while on federal supervised release, Hall robbed the Eastern Savings Bank, located at 666 West Main Street in Norwich, of approximately $2,400. Hall has been detained since his arrest on related state charges in October 2019. Judge Hall scheduled sentencing for July 6, 2021, at which time Anthony Hall faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years for the bank robbery offense, and additional penalties for violating the conditions of his supervised release. This matter has been investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Norwich Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito.
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Bank Robbery
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2018 Bangladesh quota reform movement
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The 2018 Bangladesh Quota Reform Movement is an ongoing students' movement demanding reforms in policies regarding recruitment in the Bangladesh government services. Bangladesh Sadharan Chhatra Adhikar Sangrakshan Parishad (Bangladesh General Students' Right Conservation Council) initiated movement initially began in Shahbag and on Dhaka University campus on 17 February 2018, and eventually spread country-wide by 8 April 2018. [2] The movement rapidly attained popularity among students of different universities and colleges forcing the government to announce changes in its policy. Under the existing Bangladesh government recruitment system, 56 percent of government job entry positions are reserved for specific "entitled" classes: 30 per cent for children/grandchildren of 1971 "freedom fighters," 10 per cent for women, 10 per cent is for districts based on population, 5 per cent for ethnic minorities, and 1 per cent for people with disabilities. [3][4]
As a result, only 44 percent of the job candidates are able to secure positions on the basis of merit, causing discontent among a large section of general students who say that they are deprived despite scoring higher than candidates who fall under any quota. Previous protests on the same issue were made in 2013 and 2008 but failed to bring change in government quota policy. In July 2018, protests and counter-violence erupted at various Bangladeshi universities, particularly the University of Rajshahi (RU), over the ‘quota reform movement,’ which sought to change the quota system. RU's vice-chancellor, Professor M. Abdus Sobhan, dismissed the quota-reform movement as an "anti-government movement with a motive to carry out sabotage. "[4]
On 21 March 2018, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced the quota system in government jobs for freedom fighters, their children and grandchildren will continue when a section of students and job-seekers were agitating seeking quota reform in government jobs. [5][6][7]
On 8 April 2018, hundreds of students began protests in Shabag after 2 pm. The protesters under the name Council to Protect Students' Rights demanded the quota system reforms by bringing down quotas altogether to 10 percent and filling up vacant quota posts by candidates from the merit list. At 7.30 pm, police started lobbing teargas shells, charged baton and used water cannons on the crowd. At 8.30 pm, protesters were attacked by a group of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists led by DU unit General Secretary Motahar Hossain Prince. [8] More than 160 protestors were injured in the clashes that took place at Dhaka University campus. [8]
University students from all over Bangladesh boycotted classes, took out processions and blocked highways since morning to express solidarity with the demonstrators of the central program. Thousands of students of BUET, Rajshahi University, Jahangirnagar University, Chittagong University, Khulna University, Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET), Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), Islamic University, National Institute of Textile Engineering and Research, Barisal University, etc. participated in the demonstrations in respective cities. [9][10] A delegation of protesters met Minister Obaidul Quader Chowdhury at the Secretariat in the afternoon. Mr. Quader asked to postpone protests for one month so that the government may examine the quota system. But protesters refused to pause their programmes until there was specific announcements from the prime minister. [11] Minister of Agriculture and presidium member of the ruling Awami League Matia Chowdhury made a controversial remark in Parliament by calling the quota reform protestors 'children of razakars'. [12]
Students of Stamford University Bangladesh, International University of Business Agriculture and Technology, East West University, North South University, Daffodil International University, Eastern University (Bangladesh), Independent University, United International University, American International University of Bangladesh and University of Information Technology and Science took to different streets in Dhaka and blocked a number of key thoroughfares for several hours. [13] Leaders of Bangladesh Shadharan Chhatra Odhikar Sangrakkhan Parishad called for a nationwide road blockade and strike at universities and colleges from 11 April 2018. [14]
After midnight, Iffat Jahan Esha, the president of Sufia Kamal hall unit of BCL tortured and wounded a female student named Morsheda in Sufia Kamal Hall of DU for participating in quota reform protests. [15] Photo and video of the incident quickly went viral on different social networking sites which drew attention to other general students. At 1 am, around 5,000 students of the university thronged in front of the Kabi Sufia Kamal Hall and took position in front of the gate in protest of the incident. [16] Members of Chhatra League tried to block the protesters from getting out of halls to demonstrate by locking gates and threatening them, but protesters eventually broken down the locked gate at Bijay Ekattor Hall and came out. [17]
Resuming the ongoing agitation demanding quota reforms in government jobs, students made demonstrations in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Comilla and other places. Many roads including two major highways were blocked by students of University of Dhaka, Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University, Jahangirnagar University, Islamic University, Kushtia, and other institutions. [18] Dhaka-Rajshahi highway remained blocked since morning by several hundred students of Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET). [14] More than 6,000 protesters blocked the CDA Avenue in Chittagong. [19]
In a speech delivered in Parliament, the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina criticised the protesters for creating public sufferings and angrily said: "Alright then, there won't be any quotas. There is no need for quotas. They will take BCS exams and get jobs on their merit". [20][21][22] While many protesters rejoiced this statement as fulfillment of their demands, others remained skeptic about the commitment of the government and opted to wait until more specific declaration from the government regarding reformation of quota system is made. [23]
Bangladesh Sadharon Chhatra Odhikar Songrokkhon Parishad officially announced the end of quota movement and leader of this organization Nurul Haq Nur called Sheikh Hasina the Mother of Education. They demanded medical expenses for the injured students, release of the arrested students, and overall security for all of students. [24][25]
Chhatra League has expelled 22 students from residential halls to participate in the quota reform movement at the Islamic University, However, they are given the opportunity to return to the residential hall. [26]
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reaffirmed abolition of quota during a press conference at Ganabhaban, Dhaka on 2 May 2018. [27]
The students started second phase of protests saying there has been no sign of quota reform implementation after three months had been passed since Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's announcement in Parliament. Protesting students came under several attacks by BCL in Dhaka University and Rajshahi University. [28]
Members of quota reform movement scheduled a press briefing on 30 June 2018 at Dhaka University campus but could not hold it as they were attacked allegedly by the members of BCL. [29]
When students were staging a demonstration demanding quota system reform at Dhaka University campus, then at point Faruk Hasan (joint convener, Bangladesh Sadharan Chhatra Odhikar Sangrakkhan Parishad) was snatched away allegedly by a group of BCL men. Moriom Mannan, a first year honours student of Political Science department at Tejgaon College, who joined the protests that day, came to rescue Faruk, but she herself experienced physical assault, verbal abuse and mental tortures allegedly inflicted by activists against quota reform movement and policemen. [30]
Later that day Faruk Hasan went on traceless after being picked up by BCL men allegedly from central Shaheed Minar area. [31]
On 2 July 2018, during their protest march near the main gate of RU, a master's student and joint convenor of the quota reform movement at the same university, Toriqul Islam, and 15 others, were attacked by some BCL men, including several local BCL officers, as nearby police stood still. Toriqul Islam was beaten with a hammer and sticks and other weapons, resulting in multiple leg fractures and severe head injury. [4][32][33][34][35][36]
A video footage shot by Reporter Arafat Rahaman, of The Daily star, covering the quota reform protests, during the attack allegedly showed the following attackers. Later the reporter Arafat Rahaman was recognised as the Best Photographer of the year-2018 for capturing the incident. :[34][4]
Guardians and teachers of students, rights activists, and eminent citizens scheduled to hold a rally protest the continued attacks, torture and arrest of quota reform activists in front of the Jatiya Press Club at 4:00pm under the banner of "Udbigno Obhibhabok O Nagorik” (worried guardians and citizens).
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12 May Karachi riots
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The 12 May Karachi riots, also known as Black Saturday riots, were a series of violent clashes between rival political activists in Karachi. [2] The unrest began as the recently suspended chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry arrived at the Jinnah International Airport on 12 May 2007. Gunfights and clashes erupted across the provincial capital as Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Awami National Party (ANP), and Pashtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PMAP) activists, who supported the judge, and the pro-government Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) activists took to the streets against each other. Government machinery was used to block all major roads. Police was accomplice and a silent spectator to the violence. News media was attacked at Guru mandir (Business Recorder Road) when MQM activists began firing at AAJ TV headquarters which was shown on live television. [3]
Chaudhry's supporters had announced a public rally to welcome the judge while at the same time, the MQM also announced a demonstration of their own to protest against the politicisation of the issue of judge's suspension. The MQM made plans to deliberately converge at the mausoleum of Muhammad Ali Jinnah where the chief justice was to make an appearance to address a lawyers' convention and a bar association meeting[4] at the 50th anniversary of the Sindh High Court Bar Association. [5]
Before the citywide riots escalated, several roads were cordoned off and all routes to the airport were blocked to avoid clashes between groups. In the carnage that ensued, armed groups did a lot of carnage, cars were burnt and buildings smashed into while the ensuing gunfights left more than 40 people killed with several hundred injured and arrested. The violence continued for several days, culminating in events that led to the historic Lawyers' Movement. Several lawmakers and analysts have since questioned the incompetence of the city's security apparatus on the day of the riots and the complicity of MQM in giving rise to the riots. [1] The MQM officially denied starting the chaos and blamed it on the PPP, ANP, PMAP, Punjabi Pakhtun Ittehad (PPI) and Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N) activists. [6]
In the first few months of 2007, several conflicts had already raged between chief justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and the Pakistani government, particularly with regard to the Pakistan Steel Mills corruption case where the chief justice ruled against the sale of the state-owned steel mills at a "throw-away price". [8][9] Issues pertaining to the privatisation of the state-owned steel mills upset Shaukat Aziz, who served as the prime minister under the Musharraf administration. [7]
What irked president Pervez Musharraf however was the controversial Missing Persons case that found Pakistan's intelligence agencies (including the FIA[10] and the ISI) to be complicit in the forced disappearances[11] of up to 400 people (including terror suspects and human rights activists) without due process since 2001. [12] Under Chaudhry's leadership, the courts had increasingly started "exercising independence from the government"[12] when it ordered the security agencies to produce the missing people in court. [7]
When the Musharraf administration asked the judge to quit, Chaudhry refused to go. [7] On 9 March 2007, Musharraf had no other choice but to suspend Chaudhry from his post for alleged and unspecified charges of misconduct and misuse of authority. [13] The sacking of the head of the judiciary sparked bloody protests throughout Pakistan and "edged the country towards a constitutional crisis". [13] The civil unrest grew with regards to the validity of the allegations as well as doubts as to whether Musharraf had the power to suspend the chief justice. [14] It was on these grounds that Chaudhry waged a legal battle in the Supreme Court seeking his reinstatement. He called his suspension a "thinly veiled assault on the independence of judiciary in Pakistan". [15]
On 5 May 2007, in showing solidarity with the former chief justice, a motorcade of Chaudhry's supporters rode with him from Islamabad to Lahore where he was expected to speak at the Lahore High Court Bar Association when this motorcade of over 2,000 vehicles was stopped by the police with baton charges and tear gas shelling. [16] Debates concerning the day's events started being covered and discussed on the Pakistani news media. The government wanted to limit the media coverage of Chaudhry's rallies and asked the Supreme Court to warn news networks that any "media coverage, discussion and analysis" that impeded legal procedures would be treated as contempt of court. [17] The court issued a statement in which it said the news media, and in particular Geo TV host Kamran Khan, had broadcast "sensational reporting aimed at scandalising and maligning the honourable judges of the Supreme Court". Khan defended his actions by saying he had no malicious intent. [18] But when discussions of the Chaudhry's rallies persisted on television, the government decided to take drastic measures and abruptly pulled Geo TV and Aaj TV off air. It wasn't until 9 May 2007 that the Pakistani government imposed a complete ban on the media from discussing the suspension of Chaudhry by Musharraf. Media outlets and journalists protested and responded to the ban saying that their goal was to cover, not contribute, to the controversy. The government, reluctantly, agreed to issue special passes for reporters and lawyers to attend the presidential reference filed against the chief justice. [4] Several pro-government parties throughout Pakistan announced their own demonstrations to coincide with Chaudhry's rallies. "Nations and states which are based on dictatorship instead of the supremacy of the constitution, the rule of law and protection of basic rights get destroyed." — Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Lahore High Court, 6 May 2007. [19]
In anticipation of the former chief justice's arrival in Lahore, the Lahore High Court was thronged by political activists of several political parties in the opposition including Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Pakistan Muslim League (N) (PML-N), Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal (MMA) and Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), who had gathered to welcome the judge. When Chaudhry did arrive at the Lahore High Court, his motorcade was swamped by supporters showering his vehicle with rose petals and chanting "Go Musharraf, Go! "[19] Banners denouncing Musharraf were hung all around the compound. [12]
In his historical speech on 6 May 2007, the former chief justice made no direct references to president Musharraf but directed his rhetoric towards the government by calling it a "dictatorship". [19] Several political commentators refer to this speech as the precursor to the Lawyers' Movement later that year. Chaudhry also accused the government of violating the basic human rights of its citizens and warned that the countries and nations that don't learn from past mistakes were bound to be destroyed. [12] In closing his speech, Chaudhry announced he would be attending a Sindh High Court Bar Association meeting in Karachi on 12 May 2007. After Chaudhry announced his plans for Karachi, the political parties in the opposition announced a rally to welcome the former chief justice in their city. Upon seeing Chaudhry's supporters announce a rally to welcome the chief justice, the pro-government Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) organised a protest demonstration of their own against the "politicisation of the issue [of the justice's suspension]". [20]
Seeing the chief justice's determination to visit Karachi, MQM MNA Nawab Mirza proclaimed in a parliamentary session that "no one [would] be allowed to do anything in Karachi." He said that "[the] country [may belong] to everyone, but Karachi [belonged] to [the MQM]". The provincial government called a meeting of the senior officials and instructed them to not let the chief justice leave the airport at any cost. Sindh chief secretary Shakil Durrani learnt of these plans and called them a "contempt of the High Court's orders". [21]
On 10 May 2007, Pakistan International Human Rights Organisation filed a petition with the Sindh High Court pointing out reports in the press about Sindh home secretary Ghulam M. Muhtaram Naqvi's letter to the chief justice that requested him to postpone his visit because of intelligence reports suggesting threat of a terrorist attack. [22] The court directed the federal and provincial governments to provide fool-proof security to the chief justice and also directed authorities not to pressurise him into changing his route while also keeping him informed of any security risks.
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1973 Point Mugu earthquake
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The 1973 Point Mugu earthquake occurred at 06:45:57 local time on February 21 in the Point Mugu area of southeastern Ventura County of southern California. It had a moment magnitude of 5.8 and a maximum Mercalli Intensity of VII (Very strong). This oblique-slip shock resulted in several injuries and $1 million in damage. The epicenter was near the Oxnard Plain and the northern terminus of the Santa Monica Mountains, in the California South Coast region. At the most extreme points of its perceptibility along the coast, it was felt between intensity I and III (Not felt – Weak) at San Luis Obispo in the north and San Diego in the south. Inland, it was felt at McFarland in the central valley and Cantil in the western Mojave Desert, and to the southeast in Palm Springs. [5]
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Earthquakes
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Ida flooding leaves at least 8 dead in Central Jersey, 23 in NJ, Murphy says: Live updates
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More than 1,000 city residents have been evacuated as a result of the storm, officials said Thursday evening. The city's emergency shelter facilities served 164 people and 24 pets. There are 12 individuals currently using the shelter. An estimated 50 stranded motorists were rescued Wednesday night from the tops of disabled vehicles. The Easton Avenue corridor from Landing Lane to Hamilton Street lost power overnight for several hours. There were no reported serious injuries and no reports of serious damage caused by wind or falling trees or limbs. Overnight, in addition to Route 18, there were over 15 road closures.
Floodwaters surge under Landing Lane Bridge in New Brunswick
Floodwaters surge under the Landing Lane Bridge in New Brunswick on Thursday afternoon. Flooding also occurred at Hiram Square At Riverwatch.
Adam Monacelli, MyCentralJersey.com
As of Thursday evening, Route 18 remained closed in the city in both directions from Paul Robeson Boulevard to the New Brunswick-Piscataway border. Also closed were Route 27, Richmond Street, New Street, Tabernacle Way and Paul Robeson Boulevard between Route 18 and Neilson Street and Livingston Avenue between Stratford Place and Edgeworth Place. Many residents have been evacuated due to the flood conditions, and with the rising tide, there is the possibility that more evacuations may be
necessary. Shelter is being provided for those needing assistance at Lord
Stirling School. Additional facilities will be opened as needed, officials said.
South Brunswick
Police reported Thursday morning the township and surrounding communities have experienced widespread flooding throughout the night. The waters have receded in many locations, but some roads remain closed. The closed roads included Route 1 between Ridge Road and Route 522 and Route 130 at the North Brunswick border, but Route 1 and Route 130 have been reopened in both directions as the flooding has receded, police said.
Highland Park
In a Facebook post Thursday afternoon, Highland Park Mayor Gayle Brill Mittler said Donaldson Park flooded and there have been closures to Route 18 and Route 1 leading into Highland Park. In addition, the borough experienced a couple of sink holes around town, one large enough to swallow up two cars, which have been isolated and are being addressed.
“Some of our residents had to be evacuated from their apartments and homes,” the mayor wrote.
So far, no one has been injured.
She said River Road in Highland Park and portions of Route 27 are closed due to flooding. There is no access to New Brunswick or Piscataway through Highland Park.
She said the Raritan River will reach high tide at about 5:30 p.m.
“We may see additional flooding,” the post says.
Rahway
At about 1 a.m. Thursday, residents of 401 River Road evacuated their residence due to a heavy flooding condition, police said in a statement.
At about 5:44 a.m., an explosion occurred, destroying the home and damaging four other homes in the vicinity of the blast. One male, who was driving by when the blast occurred, suffered minor injuries and was transported to a local hospital for treatment.
Video: House explodes in Rahway
A home explodes in Rahway hours after residents evacuated due to the powerful storm passing through the region on Tues. Sept. 2, 2021. A GoFundMe page for the family said a gas leak was the cause.
Courtesy of Rahway Police Department, MyCentralJersey.com
Members of the Rahway Fire Department and Elizabethtown Gas responded to the scene, where they are actively investigating the cause, police said.
Throughout Wednesday night and into Thursday morning, rescue and flood operations were conducted throughout the city by its first responders.
As of Thursday morning, 72 residents were evacuated and transported to Roosevelt Elementary School for temporary shelter. There was also a partial bridge collapse on Irving Street between Central Avenue and Seminary Avenue, police said. Swift water boat rescues were performed at 1633 Irving St. by members of the Rahway Fire Department to save four individuals who were clinging to a tree in rushing flood waters. They were rescued without injury and treated at the scene.
There is also one confirmed house collapse on Beaver Place and two partial basement wall collapses on Jefferson Avenue, all of which were unoccupied.
As of 9 a.m. Thursday morning, several roads were still impassable, and it is highly recommended that residents remain at home if it is safe for them to do so, police said.
At least 100 cars have been towed from flooded roadways and vehicle recovery efforts are continuing as the flood waters subside.
Schools throughout the district are closed Thursday.
Union (Union)
About 11:57 p.m. Wednesday, police dispatchers received a 911 call reporting that a citizen had found a body floating in the 5 Points area, police said in a statement.
Officers responded to the area and found that the streets had 3 to 4 feet of water due to a flash flood.
Officers reported that the man was on Chestnut Street near Overlook Hospital’s Union Campus. The citizen and workers from the hospital tried to help and pulled the man out of the water and into the hospital and began to give him CPR. Union firefighters and paramedics responded as well, but were unable to save the victim.
Detective Sgt. Anthony Lagoa and Detective Chris Lensi responded to investigate and found that the man’s car had been stuck in the deep water in the roadway. It appears the man got out of his car when his car got stuck.
Police said it seems as if he drowned in the water, but the exact cause of death is unknown. The Union County Medical Examiner was notified and will conduct an investigation to determine the cause of death.
Detectives have tentatively identified the deceased man as an 83-year-old resident and are in the process of making notifications to his family.
Union County
Residents are advised that conditions are still hazardous and travel is limited in many parts of Union County following Hurricane Ida.
Those needing assistance with shelter, food and other resources can call the Union County Department of Human Services Action Line at 888-845-3434 or 908-558-2288.
The Action Line is open for extended hours today, Thursday, Sept. 2, until 6 p.m. Regular hours of 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. will resume on Friday.
"Please don't be fooled by today's good weather. Emergency workers are still engaged in recovery operations from yesterday's destructive storm. We ask everyone to help out by keeping the roads clear, and keeping an eye out for hazardous conditions,” Commissioner Board Chairman Alexander Mirabella said.
Flooding and damaged equipment has created hazards in many county parks and other public spaces. Residents are asked not to visit parks today and avoid all other unnecessary travel. Trees in parks, along streets and in yards may continue to fall throughout the day, even without windy conditions, as oversaturated ground loosens around their roots.
The Union County Administration Building, 10 Elizabethtown Plaza, Elizabeth, is closed. The Union County Courts are closed. Virtual operations will not be conducted.
The Union County Clerk and Surrogate offices in Elizabeth are also closed. The Westfield office is open.
Meals on Wheels will not be delivered.
Thursday’s scrap metal drop-off program has been cancelled at both the Cranford and Rahway locations. The next scheduled drop-off date is Saturday, Sept. 18.
The Trailside Nature & Science Center is closed.
Watchung Stable is closed to visitors. Staff is on site caring for horses.
The Union County COVID-19 Call Center is not taking calls today.
The Union County COVID-19 Test Center at Kean University is closed. Appointments have been rescheduled. Thursday’s COVID-19 vaccination and testing event has been rescheduled to 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 8, in Union Township.
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50+ Celebrity Couples You Totally Forgot Were Married
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Wait, Bradley Cooper was married to WHO?! You know that thing where you hear about a celeb getting married for the *second* time, and you’re like, “Wait, what? Who was the first one?” Well, save yourself a future Wikipedia deep dive and get comfy because we’ve put together a very extensive list of all the celebrity couples you never knew tied the knot. Enjoy! The Dawson's Creek alum has always tried to keep her relationships quiet, as evidenced by the secret wedding to indie musician Elverum in July 2008. Even their split was kept on the down low, with news spreading in April 2019 that they ended their marriage earlier in the year. Michelle has since married and welcomed her first child with director Thomas Kail. They worked together on FX's Fosse/Verdon. Sometimes couples never make it out of the honeymoon phase. Murphy married film producer/record executive Tracey Edmonds in a New Year's Day ceremony in Bora Bora at the start of 2008. Things allegedly fell apart within days (before they even left the island) and they ended the marriage two weeks later. The comedian is now engaged to Australian model Paige Butcher. Former SNL cast member Chris Kattan married model Sunshine Tutt in June 2008 after proposing on Christmas Eve 2006. The relationship ended eight weeks after the wedding, citing "irreconcilable differences" as the reason for the break-up. The Kill Bill badass married Gary, who is 12 years her senior, back in 1990. They divorced two years later, and Gary is now on wife number five, Gisele Schmidt. Uma wed Ethan Hawke in 1998, but they split in 2005. For a very brief time, Bradley was married to Crash actress Jennifer. They tied the knot in late December 2006 but called it quits just four months later. “It was just something that happened,” Bradley told Howard Stern (via Us Weekly) in 2011. “The good thing is, we both realized it….Sometimes you just realize it.” Helen, who you should never forget starred in Twister, wed the controversial Simpsons voice actor in 1999 after dating for five years. They split in 2000 following 17 months of marriage. “Getting over someone is a grieving process,” Hank told Elle in 2012. “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.” The action star said “I do” to the Oscar-winning actress back in 1995, following a strange courtship that supposedly included a proposal from Nicolas the same day they met. After five years, they announced their separation, and the divorce was finalized in 2001. Not long after the ink on his divorce papers from Patricia had dried, Nicolas wed Elvis Presley’s daughter, Lisa Marie, who had previously been married to Michael Jackson. Nicolas filed for divorce in 2002 after three months of marriage. “I’m sad about this, but we shouldn’t have been married in the first place,” Lisa Marie said in a statement at the time. The supermodel and the tennis legend married in 1997, but after two years, they “Suddenly Split,” as featured on the cover of People. In her 2014 memoir, Brooke detailed the time Andre revealed he’d been addicted to crystal meth during the first part of their relationship: “I was the one who had supported him unconditionally when he told me that he was basically bald and had been wearing hairpieces most of his adult life,” she wrote. “Why should this have been any different?” Angelina’s marriage to Brad Pitt is well-documented, but it’s often forgotten that her first husband was Jonny, who currently stars as Sherlock Holmes on the CBS procedural Elementary. After appearing in the 1995 movie Hackers together, they got hitched in 1996 with Angelina wearing black rubber pants and a white shirt with Jonny’s name written in her own blood on the back. “It’s your husband,” she explained to the New York Times that year. “You’re about to marry him. You can sacrifice a little to make it really special.” They divorced in 2000, but in May 2014, Angelina called him “still a great friend.” Long before Jennifer and Ben Affleck’s #Nannygate drama, Jennifer was married to Scandal hunk Scott. They met on the set of Felicity and wed in October 2000, but by March 2003, they had separated. “We didn’t have a shot,” Jennifer later told Allure. “He’s a really good guy, and we just imploded.” Elisabeth met the SNL alum, who is 16 years her senior, in October 2008 when her Mad Men costar Jon Hamm hosted the sketch show. They married a year later but separated after just eight months. Fred later admitted to Howard Stern that he was “a terrible husband,” and Elisabeth cosigned that while talking to New York magazine in 2014. “Looking back, I feel like I was really young, and at the time, I didn’t think I was that young,” she said. “It was extremely traumatic and awful and horrible.” The Jurassic Park daddy and the Thelma & Louise star met on the set of their movie Transylvania 6-5000 and went on to appear in two more films together: The Fly and Earth Girls Are Easy. They made things official with a Vegas wedding in 1987 but parted ways in 1990 after Geena filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences.” Mario was married to Ali “Doritos Girl” Landry for less than two weeks in 2004. They had the marriage annulled, and in 2011, Mario publicly copped to having cheated on her before the wedding. “At that point,” he told Howard Stern (via Us Weekly), “I was not ready to settle down. I wasn’t man enough to know how to go about handling it.” Only three days after finalizing her divorce from Sonny Bono in 1975, Cher tied the knot with Gregg of The Allman Brothers Band. Nine days later, Cher filed for divorce from him, reportedly because of his issues with heroin and liquor, but they reconciled and stayed together until 1977. The Grey’s Anatomy star married her Sideways director (also known for The Descendants and Nebraska) in 2003, but they called it quits in 2005. According to People, it took them more than two years to settle their finances. Back in 1993, Julia and country singer Lyle had a surprise wedding, with Lyle’s manager telling the Washington Post at the time that “it happened rapidly, very rapidly.” “I feel liberated in a way,” Julia reportedly told Premiere magazine while married. “I feel like this really pleasant calm has descended upon my life.” The calm didn’t last—the couple split after 21 months together. It’s hard to forget Kim’s splashy wedding to Kris Humphries (followed by a splashy wedding to Kanye West), but her first husband came into the picture before every Kardashian move was tracked. She and Damon, a music producer, eloped in 2000 and divorced in 2004. We’re all still mourning the demise of Will’s marriage to Amy Poehler, but the Parks & Rec star was actually his second wife. He and Adventures in Babysitting actress Penelope were married for less than a month after getting hitched in December 1994. Before J. Lo got hot and heavy with A-Rod, she was married to Marc Anthony, and before that, dancer-choreographer Cris Judd. But first came Ojani, then a model/actor, whom Jennifer wed in 1997 and divorced in 1998. In 2016, Ojani appeared on Patti Stanger’s show, Million Dollar Matchmaker. The supermodel’s marriage to Seal didn’t work out, and neither did her nuptials with celebrity hairstylist Ric back in 1997. They split after five years, but Heidi has since called him “a good guy” and said they’re “still friends.” Berry’s first marriage was to Major League Baseball player David. The pair said “I do” at 1:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day of 1993, but they split in 1996 with Halle filing a restraining order against David. Halle has since married and divorced Eric Benét and Olivier Martinez. Wedding bells rang for the actor and the model in 1991, but by 1995, they were officially in splitsville. Cindy opened up about their dynamic in 2014 on Marc Maron’s WTF podcast: “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.” The Big Little Lies star married the Grammy-winning musician in 2005 in a small ceremony at their L.A. home after already having two kids together. In 2010, Ben filed for divorce, but they appeared to reconcile until 2012, when Laura was the one who filed. The second time stuck, as they were officially divorced in 2013. “It just is what it is,” Laura told The Telegraph in 2014. “Sadly, half of marriages end in divorce….There’s no shame around it—unless you want to project that onto yourself—but certainly, there’s no longer cultural shame. Everyone is walking through it.” The One Tree Hill costars tied the knot in a Santa Monica ceremony with handwritten vows in April 2005. Only five months later, they announced their separation. In a 2017 essay for Cosmo, Sophia wrote that the “trauma of it was amplified by how public it became, which was incredibly foreign and bizarre to a girl who’d been just another college kid 24 months before her life blew up.” Will and Sheree were married from 1992 to 1995, and they share a son, Trey. Will, of course, went on to marry Jada Pinkett Smith, while Sheree has since married and divorced San Diego Charger Terrell Fletcher. Nicky and the money manager wed in a Las Vegas ceremony at 2:30 a.m. one August night in 2004. “They were planning on getting married this fall, but while in Las Vegas, they felt there’d be less attention if they did it there,” Nicky’s spokesperson told People. “They also felt it would be more intimate. And it was. This was not a spontaneous decision. Todd had actually proposed several weeks earlier.” Nevertheless, they annulled the marriage three months later. Drew wed the comedian in 2000, and they appeared in both Charlie’s Angels and Freddy Got Fingered together. After just a few months, Tom filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences.” “It was just a very short period of time that I had a brief marriage,” Tom later said on Oprah: Where Are They Now?: “I don’t really tend to talk about it that much comfortably [or] publicly. All of that was part of that sort of crazy, whirlwind of a time.” But before Drew and Tom got together, she was married to bar owner Jeremy. He was her first husband, and they got spontaneously married one night in 1994 after six weeks of dating, when she was 19 and he was 31. Drew has said of the relationship, “I realized my mistake on the day I married him,” and she filed for divorce less than two months later. Tom’s marriages to Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes provided plenty of tabloid fodder, but before any of that, the action star was married to Lost in Space actress Mimi. They wed in a secret ceremony in 1987 and announced their intent to divorce in 1990. It’s been reported that Mimi is the one who introduced Tom to Scientology.
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Famous Person - Marriage
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Yami Gautam-Aditya Dhar married: Dia Mirza, Varun Dhawan and other celeb friends congratulate newlywed couple
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'Spider-Man: No Way Home' MAJOR leak confirms Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield and Charlie Cox joining Tom Holland in the Multiverse 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' new poster unleashes the Multiverse; Tom Holland starrer to release in India on Dec 17 Ryan Reynolds: I'm taking a sabbatical from films, to get creative and excited again Vin Diesel invites Dwayne Johnson to return for 'Fast & Furious 10' Viola Davis' 'The Woman King' set to release in September 2022 'Eternals' Lebanese actor Haaz Sleiman slams Arab nations that banned film 'Vendhu Thanindhathu Kaadu' to have a month-long final schedule Sivakarthikeyan completes dubbing for Don 'Indian 2' makers to find a replacement for Kajal Aggarwal? Sivakarthikeyan's 'Doctor' crosses Rs.70crore at the Tamil Nadu box office Kamal Haasan to team up with Pa Ranjith for their next Santhanam's Sabhaapathy to release on November 19 Gopichand, Raashii Khanna's 'Pakka Commercial' teaser clocks 4 million views Akkineni Nagarjuna and 'Bangarraju' team head to Mysore for next schedule. See pics from airport SP Charan collects Padma Vibhushan on behalf of his late father SP Balasubrahmanyam; says it's a surreal moment Jr NTR fractures his finger while working out; undergoes surgery Watch: Allu Arjun's kid Allu Ayaan recreates Varun Tej's Ghani anthem Venkatesh hosts a tea party for F3 team and co-stars Varun Tej, Tamannaah Bhatia Malayalam actor Kozhikode Sharada passes away Vinayan unveils the 13th character look poster of ‘Pathombatham Noottandu’ Dhyan Sreenivasan and Dayana Hameed to play junior doctors in Sagar Hari's suspense thriller ‘Veekam’ Remembering Sathyan Master on his 109th birth anniversary Malayalam film titles that are literally tongue twisters Vintage fashion styles from old Malayalam films that probably your parents could relate to Duniya Vijay to make his Tollywood debut? "I will be popular like my dad one day," says an 8-year-old Puneeth Rajkumar in an old interview Prem’s 25th film culminates in a journey called Premam Poojyam Aditi Prabhudeva needs no body double to do these stunts A fitting 11th day ceremony for Puneeth Rajkumar 'Avatara Purusha : Part 1' gets a release date Prosenjit explains why he tagged PM and CM for food delivery app fiasco Anoushka Shankar: The title track of ‘Avijatrik’ is a small tribute to my father Pt. Ravi Shankar ‘Raghu Dakat’: Dev comes up with yet another surprise from his next, deets inside Parambrata Chattopadhyay’s thriller ‘Antardhaan’ explores the mystic beauty of Himachal #AryanKhancase Rituparna Sengupta: Being a mother I can feel Shah Rukh and Gauri's pain Film fraternity upbeat about big screen releases, audiences throng theatres in Kolkata Photos: Rubina Bajwa and Gurbaksh Chahal’s engagement was no less than a fairytale My films' spectacular success or disappointing failures don't affect me: Prithviraj Sukumaran 'Warning' trailer: Dheeraj Kumar and Prince Kanwaljit Singh shine in the revenge drama After 'Gelo', Aditya Tarnach excited about working in husband-wife, Yuvraj Hans & Mansi's film Anniversary Special: Neeru Bajwa and Harry Jawandha's top 5 must see pictures Sargun Mehta and Ravi Dubey give us a sneak peek into their 'choti' Diwali celebrations with a quirky Instagram reel Weekend Roundup: Kranti Redkar's letter to Maha CM to Subhash Ghai announcing the release date of 'Vijeta'; here's what made headlines in Marathi cinema The first teaser of Pirem is out Sonalee Kulkarni's ‘Chhatrapati Tararani’ becomes the first Marathi film to collaborate with Hollywood studio Happy Diwali 2021: Kranti Redkar, Sonalee Kulkarni, Swwapnil Joshi and other celebs pour in heartfelt wishes for fans Looking forward to my first Padwa gift from Kunal: Sonalee Kulkarni Diwali 2021: Rinku Rajguru is a sight to behold in this stunning yellow saree; See pics Shrishti Uttrakhandi: Interesting photos of the actress Pawan Singh drops a new Chhath song 'Chhathi Mai Sunli Gohaar' Tridha Choudhury looks breathtakingly beautiful in her stylish traditional outfit Pradeep Pandey Chintu and Kajal Raghwani starrer 'Sasura Bada Satawela' first look is out! Neha Malik looks bewitching as she poses by the pool in a monokini Yamini Singh completes the shoot of 'Tu Tu Main Main' Kinjal Rajpriya announces her new venture 'Trepan Mu Paanu' Chetan Daiya on his wedding anniversary: I couldn't have asked for more from my wife Vijaygiri Bava's 'Ekvismu Tiffin' gets selected at the 52nd Indian Panorama International Film Festival Photos: Sneak peek into Gujarati celebrities’ Diwali celebration Sonali Lele Desai sets the chord right with her majestic Diwali looks PHOTO! Shraddha Dangar pulls off the festive vibes in an elegant attire This 2 ingredient mask is best for facial hair removal Saanve Megghana looks pretty in these pics Celebrities who made headlines this week in Dhollywood Traditional foods prepared for Chhath Puja Desi or Western - Monalisa is high on style Bollywood stars go power dressing in black Everything actress Nayanthara does to stay fit Malavika Mohanan’s mystical saree looks Russian couple weds Indian style! Tollywood actors who slay it in white
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Famous Person - Marriage
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Continental Airlines Flight 1404 crash
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Continental Airlines Flight 1404 was a Continental Airlines flight from Denver International Airport in Denver, Colorado, to George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Texas. [1] On the evening of December 20, 2008, the flight crashed while taking off from Denver, resulting in two critical injuries, 36 noncritical injuries, and a hull loss of the Boeing 737-524 aircraft. [1][2]
On Saturday, December 20, 2008, around 18:18 (06:18 pm) local time, after being cleared for takeoff on runway 34R at Denver International Airport, the Boeing 737-524 aircraft veered off the side of the runway before taxiway WC (less than 4,000 feet (1,200 m) from the threshold), skidded across the taxiway and a service road, and crashed in a 40-foot-deep (12 m) ravine several hundred yards from the runway. [2][4] The right engine caught fire and the fire spread to the fuselage. [4][5]
Despite early confusion as to the whereabouts of Flight 1404, firefighters were on scene relatively quickly, as the aircraft came to rest near one of the airport's four fire houses. [4] When they arrived, most of the right side of the plane was on fire, while passengers were climbing out of the left side, being assisted by flight attendants[6] and one off-duty Continental Airlines pilot in the cabin, the latter making several trips in and out of the wreckage to ensure everyone was safely out of the aircraft. [7] The off-duty pilot, Richard Lowe, was part of the crew who had flown the incident aircraft into Denver; an Air Force reservist, Lowe was awarded the Airman's Medal for his actions. [8]
The aircraft sustained severe damage. The fuselage was cracked just behind the wings, the number 1 engine and main landing gear were sheared off, and the nose gear collapsed. [4] The fire caused overhead luggage compartments to melt onto seats. [9]
The crash is noted as the most serious incident in Denver International Airport's history. [10] The aircraft was subsequently written off. [2]
Of the 110 passengers and five crew on board,[1] 38 sustained injuries, including broken bones, though everyone on board survived. [3]:6[11][12] Two passengers and one of the crew were critically injured, though both passengers' conditions were upgraded that evening. [13] By the following morning, fewer than seven people remained hospitalized. [13]
50-year-old Captain David Butler was among the critically injured. [14] He was hospitalized with serious back injuries and bone fractures. [15] The first officer, 34-year-old Chad Levang, received minor injuries. The aircraft's black boxes (data and sound) were recovered from the wreckage in usable condition. [16] The cockpit voice recorder did not reveal any apparent problem until 41 seconds after the aircraft's brakes were released, just before takeoff. [17][18] At that point, a bumping or rattling sound can be heard, and the crew aborted the takeoff four seconds later. Both recorders stopped working six seconds after that (before the plane came to a stop). [17][18] At one point during the sequence, the plane's speed reached 119 kn (137 mph; 220 km/h). [17][18]
When interviewed, First officer Levang told investigators that he was unaware of any problem until the plane was traveling between 87 and 90 knots (100 and 104 mph; 161 and 167 km/h), when it moved away from the runway's centerline and made a "sudden left turn". [18] He indicated that Captain Butler, who was too badly injured to interview with officials when the investigation began, was flying at the time. [17][18] Both the captain and first officer had clean safety records when the crash occurred, and were experienced pilots. [5][18]
Wheel marks left on the ground and initial reports from passengers and firefighters indicate that the plane was airborne, briefly. [4][19] When during the sequence the fire started is unclear. [16][19] No snow or ice was on the runway, but 31-knot (36 mph; 57 km/h) crosswinds were happening at the time. [20][21]
The flight crew who flew the aircraft to Denver prior to the incident flight was also on board, though not on duty, and reported having no difficulties with the plane during their previous flight. [17] It suffered an engine failure and subsequent emergency landing in 1995, following which both engines were replaced, but was otherwise undamaged in that incident. [5]
Initial speculation suggested that the plane could have suffered a landing gear malfunction that might have resulted in a wheel lockup during the takeoff roll, leading to the runway excursion. [6][11][14] National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) officials said that when the takeoff began, the aircraft's engines appeared to be functioning properly, its tires were inflated, and the brakes did not appear as if they had failed or otherwise malfunctioned, concluding that the landing gear did not cause any problems. [17][18]
On July 17, 2009, focus had shifted to a possible large gust of wind or a patch of ice. Captain David Butler stated: "My speculation is that we either got a big, nasty gust of wind or that, with the controls we had in, we hit some ice." He also stated that he stopped pushing on rudder controls because they had stopped working. [22] The winds were reported at about 24 to 27 knots (28 to 31 mph; 44 to 50 km/h) from the northwest with gusts up to nearly 32 knots (37 mph; 59 km/h) just before the airliner began its takeoff roll northward down a north-south runway. The 737 has a crosswind limitation for takeoff of 33 knots (38 mph; 61 km/h) on a dry runway. [23]
Contrary to the "average" wind data reported to the incident pilots, the NTSB investigation found that a sensor at one end of the runway showed a crosswind of 40 knots (46 mph; 74 km/h), with analysis showing the airplane was hit with a peak gust crosswind of 45 knots (52 mph; 83 km/h). [3] in addition to being much higher than the data reported to the pilots as they prepared for takeoff, this was also much higher than the airline industry used in pilot training. [3] The NTSB also received a report analyzing 250,327 departures involving 737-500s, and found that only four of those departures (less than 0.002%) had experienced a crosswind above 30 knots (35 mph; 56 km/h),[3] meaning that for a commercial pilot to have real-life experience with crosswinds anywhere near the velocity that hit Continental Airlines Flight 1404 that day was nearly impossible. [22] The NTSB believes that this is why the pilot believed that his rudder controls were not working, deciding to not push the rudder anymore and to focus instead on other, inadequate remedies to the situation. [22]
On July 13, 2010, the NTSB published that the probable cause of this accident was the captain's cessation of right rudder input, which was needed to maintain directional control of the airplane, about four seconds before the excursion, when the airplane encountered a strong and gusty crosswind – with a contributing factor of inadequate crosswind training for extreme wind gusts in the airline industry. [3] A further contributing factor was no requirement for the air traffic control system to provide sufficient wind information to the air traffic controllers (ATCs) and pilots. [3] In response to the NTSB report, the Federal Aviation Administration required the airline industry to adjust the crosswind training protocols for pilots, and required ATCs to provide multiple sources of wind information, rather than averages, to pilots. [22]
The crash of Continental Airlines Flight 1404 was covered in "Runway Runoff" a season-19 (2019) episode of the internationally syndicated Canadian TV documentary series Mayday. [22]
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Air crash
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2019 FIBA Intercontinental Cup
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The 2019 FIBA Intercontinental Cup was the 28th edition of the FIBA Intercontinental Cup. The tournament took place from 15 to 17 February 2019. The tournament was held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, at the Carioca Arena 1. [1][2]
The tournament was held under a Final Four format, played by four teams, and included a third-place game. [3]
The tournament was contested by four teams. The NBA opted to send the G League champions, rather than send the NBA champions. [4]
When the event was announced, it was also announced that the game would be played at the Carioca Arena 1, the home arena of the tournament's host club, Flamengo. Carioca Arena 1 is located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The arena was opened in 2016, and it has a seating capacity of 6,000 people for basketball games. (1st title)
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Sports Competition
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Kenya and Ethiopia sign cross-border agreement
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Kenya and Ethiopia have signed a UN-backed trade deal worth $200m (£130m) in a bid to ease cross-border conflict.
President Uhuru Kenyatta and Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn agreed the deal in the border town of Moyale.
The deal aims to tackle youth unemployment by creating jobs in the energy, mining and livestock industries. Tensions between rival ethnic groups have risen due to lack of land and water.
There was a heavy security presence ahead of the meeting on the Kenya-Ethiopia border.
"This is a historic function," Kenya's President Kenyatta was quoted as saying. He said a tarmac road would be built by September 2016, linking the two countries' capital cities.
Cross-border raids have forced thousands to flee their homes in recent years.
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Sign Agreement
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2016 Silk Way Airlines Antonov An-12 crash
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On 18 May 2016, a Silk Way Airlines Antonov An-12 cargo plane crashed after an engine failure[1] shortly after taking off from Dwyer Airport in southern Afghanistan, en route to Mary International Airport in Turkmenistan. [2] Seven of the nine crew members on board were killed in the crash, which was the second incident for Silk Way in Afghanistan after a 2011 Il-76 crash. Two others were taken to hospital and treated for their injuries. [3]
Arif Mammadov, head of Azerbaijan's State Civil Aviation Administration, said that the aircraft crashed after hitting an obstruction. [4]
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Air crash
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Consequences of the U.S. Withdrawal from the JCPOA
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The overarching question imparting urgency to this exploration is: Can U.S.-Russian contention in cyberspace cause the two nuclear superpowers to stumble into war? In considering this question we were constantly reminded of recent comments by a prominent U.S. arms control expert: At least as dangerous as the risk of an actual cyberattack, he observed, is cyber operations’ “blurring of the line between peace and war.” Or, as Nye wrote, “in the cyber realm, the difference between a weapon and a non-weapon may come down to a single line of code, or simply the intent of a computer program’s user.”
Renewables are widely perceived as an opportunity to shatter the hegemony of fossil fuel-rich states and democratize the energy landscape. Virtually all countries have access to some renewable energy resources (especially solar and wind power) and could thus substitute foreign supply with local resources. Our research shows, however, that the role countries are likely to assume in decarbonized energy systems will be based not only on their resource endowment but also on their policy choices.
As the United States emerges from the era of so-called forever wars, it should abandon the regime change business for good. Then, Washington must understand why it failed, writes Stephen Walt.
Full event video and after-event thoughts from the panelists.
All Past Events
Seminar
- Open to the Public
Wed., May 16, 2018
| 10:00am
Belfer Building - Starr Auditorium, Floor 2.5
With President Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the Iranian nuclear agreement (JCPOA), the future of the deal is under serious question. Please join the Iran Project and The Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) for an expert-level roundtable analyzing the ramifications of this decision and the how leading international and regional players will react to these latest developments.
About
With President Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal of the United States from the Iranian nuclear agreement (JCPOA), the future of the deal is under serious question. Please join the Iran Project and The Project on Managing the Atom (MTA) for an expert-level roundtable analyzing the ramifications of this decision and the how leading international and regional players will react to these latest developments.
This panel discussion will include Gary Samore, Executive Director for Research at the Belfer Center; Sahar Nowrouzzadeh, Joint Research Fellow at the Belfer Center's Iran Project and Project on Managing the Atom; Hassan Ahmadian, Postdoctoral Fellow at the Belfer Center Iran Project; Steve E. Miller, Director, International Security Program; and other speakers TBA. Moderated by Belfer Center Iran Project Director, Payam Mohseni.
President Trump wants to isolate Iran and put it under the limelight as a threat to international peace and security in order to deprive Tehran from the benefits it sought from the JCPOA. But he is playing his cards in the worst way possible. By reinstating sanctions, he has already thrown much of his leverage against Iran away. This is not to say that Tehran will benefit from the collapse of the JCPOA – and surely not from the reinstating of sanctions. What Trump did, however, is to create challenges for the United States internationally and therefore can be of diplomatic value to Tehran for three reasons: first, instead of targeting Iran through its traditional leadership role in global multilateral arrangements, he unilaterally withdrew the United States from the agreement and disregarded the advice of European allies. Therefore, rather than bear the brunt of global pressure, Iran will have to confront a “rogue” US administration according to some Iranian analysts – with the world sympathizing with Tehran. In particular, Trump preferred his controversial partners in the Middle East--Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, both of whom are facing domestic challenges at home--over traditional American allies in Europe. Second, Trump set himself up on the losing side of the JCPOA, with the US being the irresponsible party wrecking the agreement and Iran being the party honoring its words. Third, he bridged the gap between anti-American propaganda and the official U.S. position for the Iranian public as the United States is playing into Iran’s official narrative. One can barely hear a voice criticizing the Iranian government inside the country as the blame is squarely placed on the United States for the probable collapse of the deal
President Trump’s decision to withdraw from the JCPOA and openly violate the provisions of the agreement may not quite be a gift to Tehran, but it is at least as damaging to the United States as it is to Iran. It isolates the United States and positions it as the wrecker of the deal. It discredits the United States as a trustworthy negotiating partner – at least with Iran, if not more broadly. It divides Washington from its European allies, all of whom are deeply opposed to this move. It creates an opening for Iran to collaborate more closely with Europe, Russia, and China in arrangements that will exclude the United States. It offers Iran the opportunity to escape from the confining limits and intense scrutiny put in place by the JCPOA. It will require the United States to seek additional sanctions in an environment in which there is little sympathy for the US position and some respect for Iran’s compliance with the JCPOA. It raises the prospect of a world in which US sanctions are ineffective while Iran’s nuclear program steadily advances. It signals a return to the purely confrontational approach that for more than a dozen years failed to halt Iran’s nuclear progress. Iran may attempt to salvage the deal by continued cooperation with the other parties to the agreement, but if not then Trump’s decision will have created a world in which Iran’s nuclear program is much less constrained and much less inspected – and he will have paid a high price to do so.
President Trump’s decision to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal is a strategic mistake with three major consequences: 1) it greatly undermines U.S. national interests by eroding its credibility, by splitting the United States from its European allies and the international community, by upending an agreement that effectively blocked Iran’s nuclear aspirations at the weapons level, and by wasting billions of dollars of political, financial, and human capital the United States invested to reach the JCPOA. 2) It erodes the pillars of the rules-based international system as it questions the independent power and diplomatic credibility of European states, especially if they are not able to safeguard the deal from American violations. Likewise, Trump’s decision undermines the value and significance of multilateralism and international institutions, especially those operating towards the global nuclear non-proliferation regime such as the IAEA. And, 3) it marks a turning point in the post-revolutionary history of modern Iran as the first major bitter experience of the country’s youth with the United States and the first direct public negotiation with America--inflaming Iranian nationalism, undermining the value of engaging the West, and shifting the domestic discourse to a hardline position. This was a gift to Ayatollah Khamenei as it undermines the platform of moderate President Rouhani, claiming he was right to tell everyone not to trust the Americans. Now Khamenei will turn to undermine the credibility of the Europeans by turning all eyes on the EU powers, before Iran uses the U.S. violation and withdrawal of the agreement to move beyond the deal.
One of the key questions for U.S. policymakers will be how Iran’s nuclear and perhaps broader national security decision-making will be impacted by Trump’s decision, particularly as it was made in isolation from our P5+1 and EU partners and despite Iran’s verified compliance. After all, we’ve known for many years that Iran does not face insurmountable technical barriers to producing nuclear weapons, as the U.S. intelligence community has repeatedly confirmed publicly. Therefore, Iran’s political will and the result of a cost-benefit analysis of what it views as its core national security interests will continue to be a central question. Among the likely consequences of today’s decision will be that our ability to influence or incentivize Iran’s nuclear decision-making in a manner favorable to U.S. interests will be severely undermined going forward.
President Trump thinks he can crash the nuclear deal, reimpose international economic sanctions, and force Iran to negotiate a better deal. He is mistaken. For now, Iran will try to salvage the JCPOA with the other parties to the deal (the Europeans, Russia, and China), promising to retain nuclear constraints if the other parties give assurances that they will resist secondary US sanctions. Over time, however, as secondary sanctions reduce the flow of economic benefits to Iran, Iran will threaten to unwind nuclear constraints under the JCPOA. However, Iran will be cautious to avoid nuclear actions that risk provoking a US military response. The ultimate Iranian objective is to avoid a confrontation until the 2020 elections, in hopes that Trump will not be re-elected.
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Tear Up Agreement
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November 1964 Vietnam floods
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In November 1964, the quick succession of three typhoons—Iris, Joan, and Kate—caused widespread flooding in Vietnam. Constituting part of a very active typhoon season, the three typhoons made landfalls in South Vietnam within a 12-day period. The floods occurred against the backdrop of the escalating Vietnam War. Hardest-hit were the central provinces of South Vietnam where the storms moved ashore. Approximately 7,000 people were killed and over a million people were displaced by the storms as floods inundated over 20,000 km2 (7,500 mi2) of land. An estimated 54,000 homes were destroyed. Typhoons Iris, Joan, and Kate made landfall on the coast of Vietnam on November 4, November 8, and November 16, respectively. Individually, Joan was the most damaging, though each exacerbated the impacts of preceding storms. A plurality of fatalities occurred in Quảng Nam Province and Quảng Tín Province. Excessive rainfall caused rivers to overflow, destroying entire villages and inflicting numerous casualties. Heavy losses were sustained by the remaining unharvested rice crop in central Vietnam. U.S. and South Vietnamese military officials stated that the disaster caused a larger setback to their war effort than the Viet Cong had done. A widespread relief effort involving several countries began in the wake of the floods, resulting in the challenging distribution of food, shelter, and medical supplies amid conflict within a contested region. The 1964 typhoon season was the most active Pacific typhoon season on record,[1][2] due in part to unusually strong tropical waves that were prevalent in the latter-half of the year. [3] According to the Mariners Weather Log, six tropical cyclones formed in the western Pacific in November 1964, of which four became typhoons; this represented unusually high tropical activity for the month. [4] Vietnam had been struck by three other typhoons—Tilda, Winnie, and Violet—earlier in the year,[5]:51 which along with Iris, Joan, and Kate in November constituted a total of six typhoons striking the country between the 11th and 22nd parallel north in 1964, along with two other tropical storms. [6]:74
Typhoons Iris, Joan, and Kate made landfalls on Vietnam within a 12-day period in November. [6]:74 The first storm, Iris, may have developed from a tropical disturbance east of Samar as early as October 31 according to tracking data from the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). [7] Weather observations detected the system, named Iris, as it tracked westward South China Sea in early November. [6]:78 Iris strengthened into a low-end typhoon with one-minute maximum sustained winds of 120 km/h (75 mph) on October 4 as estimated by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) shortly before moving ashore South Vietnam near Qui Nhơn. The storm weakened quickly over the rough terrain of Southeast Asia, and dissipated inland on November 5. [7][6]:78
Like Iris, Typhoon Joan may have begun to develop east on the Philippines as early as November 4 according to data from the JMA. The incipient system moved west into the South China Sea, and on November 6 ships reported the presence of a tropical storm with winds of 75 km/h (45 mph). The system, named Joan, became a typhoon on November 8 and attained peak one-minute sustained winds of 130 km/h (70 mph) before making landfall on Vietnam north of Nha Trang later that day. Heavy rains associated with Joan had already been impacting Vietnam days ahead of landfall. [8][6]:78 Joan quickly weakened inland, though its remnants may have persisted on a southwestward course into the Gulf of Thailand for five more days. [8]
Typhoon Kate formed within the South China Sea in mid-November and organized into a tropical storm by November 13. It took an initially erratic path, reversing and shifting its heading several times before embarking on a more steady west-northwestward course on November 15. Kate became a typhoon later that day and struck the Vietnamese coast near Nha Trang on November 16; one-minute sustained winds just prior to landfall were estimated by the JTWC at around 120 km/h (75 mph). [9][6]:78
Seven thousand people were killed and over a million people were left homeless by the three typhoons in the central provinces of South Vietnam, with roughly a third of the country affected. [18][6]:78 Early estimates placed the number of homeless across four Vietnamese provinces at between 0.8–1.2 million. [19] Around 1,000 mm (40 in) of rain fell within the first ten days in November. [19] Some areas recorded rainfall for 15 consecutive days. [20]:5 Over 20,000 km2 (7,500 mi2) of land was flooded by storms' rains across a 320 km-long (200 mi) strip of the country. The deluge was the most severe in at least six decades, obliterating hamlets in mountain valleys and coastal plains and wiping out the central Vietnamese rice crop. [6]:78[21]:4[22] Some areas experienced total loss of their crops. [23] However, the completion of the rice harvest in most areas prior to the flood mitigated losses. [20]:5 Flood inundation stood as high as 6 m (20 ft) atop rice-growing areas. [24] Thousands of water buffalo also drowned in the flood,[20]:5 comprising part of the significant loss of livestock in Quảng Nam and three other provinces;[25] some areas saw the loss of 80 percent of livestock. [26]
An estimated 90 percent of property across three provinces were damaged. [27] The South Vietnamese press estimated the loss of 54,000 homes. [28] Floods destroyed 14,000 homes in Quảng Tín Province and 1,400 homes in Quảng Nam Province; another 36,000 homes were damaged in Quảng Nam. [25] Along the coast, ships of the Republic of Vietnam Navy's coastal patrol fleet were either destroyed or damaged. [18] United Press International described it as "the worst storm disaster in South Vietnam's history". [19] Its scale interrupted the ongoing Vietnam War as the conflict's belligerents aided storm-stricken areas. [29] The U.S. and South Vietnamese militaries reported that the flooding inflicting greater losses to their war effort than the Viet Cong had done cumulatively since 1954. [30] An American military advisor stated that the floods "hurt [American] communications more than thousands of tons of Viet Cong explosives could have done". [20]:1 Floodwaters destroyed bridges and hamstrung rail and truck transportation utilized by the joint forces. [30] Roughly 320 km (200 mi) of the only meridional railroad in Vietnam was washed out. [25] A bridge linking Da Nang and the insular base of the 2nd Division of the Army of the Republic of Vietnam was washed out.
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Floods
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1619 Jamestown Polish craftsmen strike
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The Jamestown craftsmen's strike of 1619 took place in the settlement of Jamestown in the Virginia colony. [1] It was the first documented strike in North America. [2] Skilled craftsmen were sent by the Virginia Company to Jamestown to produce pitch, tar, and turpentine used for shipbuilding. [3] When the colony held its first election in 1619, many settlers were not allowed to vote on the grounds that they were not of English descent, and they went on strike. [2] Due to the importance of the skilled workers in producing valuable naval stores for the colony, company leaders bowed to labor pressure and gave full voting rights to continental workers. [1]
John Smith first encountered and was impressed with the talents of Polish craftsmen when he traveled through Poland in 1602,[4] fleeing the Turks who had imprisoned him. The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was then the largest kingdom of Europe,[5] covering the present territory of Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Belarus, Ukraine, Moldavia and parts of Russia. [6]
Early in Jamestown's history, Smith and the Virginia Company began recruiting workers from mainland Europe to come to their new colony. [4] The first of these foreign workers came with the second group of settlers who arrived in the colony in 1608; two of these workers would later save Smith's life in an attack by Native Americans[2][4] as noted in Smith's writings. [1] Contemporary historical accounts refer to this first group of foreign craftsmen as Dutchmen and Poles. [2][7][8]
The foreign craftsmen began producing glassware, pitch, and potash soon after their arrival in 1608. These goods were used in the colony, but were also important as they were the first goods exported from the colony to Europe. [2] Later more skilled workers arrived and continued to produce tar, resin, and turpentine,[2] and clapboard and frankincense as well. [7]
When the first elections in the colony were held in 1619, the colony did not allow any continental settlers to vote. They were denied the right to vote on the grounds that they were not of English descent. The craftsmen in response, refused to work unless they were given the right to vote. [1] Under this labor pressure, the Virginia Company's Council reversed the decision to disenfranchise the craftsmen, and simultaneously struck an agreement with the craftsmen to apprentice young men from the colony. [1][2] The company leaders feared not only the loss of income and labor, but that the colony might gain a reputation for not being welcoming to further settlers not of English descent, especially skilled craftsmen. [7]
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Strike
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A 6-Year-Old Girl Died On A Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park Ride
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The Haunted Mine Drop is shown in this July 2017 file photo at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs, Colo. The Haunted Mine Drop is billed as the first drop ride to go underground, plunging riders 110 feet inside of Iron Mountain. Chelsea Self/AP The Haunted Mine Drop is shown in this July 2017 file photo at Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park in Glenwood Springs, Colo. The Haunted Mine Drop is billed as the first drop ride to go underground, plunging riders 110 feet inside of Iron Mountain. GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — An investigation is underway after a 6-year-old girl on vacation with her family died at an amusement park in the western Colorado town of Glenwood Springs. Few details have been released, but Suzanne Emery with the Glenwood Caverns Adventure Park says "an incident" occurred Sunday evening on the Haunted Mine Drop ride that caused the death. The local newspaper, the Post Independent, reports the park will be closed Monday and Tuesday. "Out of respect and concern for all parties involved, we will not have further comment until all details have been confirmed. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all involved," Emery said in a news release. Garfield County Coroner Robert Glassmire said park employees initiated first aid until paramedics arrived and determined the girl had died. The girl's name has not been released. The Haunted Mine Drop, which opened in July 2017, is billed as the first drop ride to go underground, plunging riders 110 feet (33 meters) inside of Iron Mountain. Park visitors are required to sign a release of liability waiver before going on any rides or attractions.
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Mine Collapses
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Body of seventh and last miner recovered from Coahuila mine
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The body of the last of seven miners trapped in the Micarán mine in Múzquiz, Coahuila, was recovered on Thursday after a nearly week-long search effort.
Part of the mine collapsed last Friday after heavy rains, trapping seven miners. The mine is an open coal pit 800 meters long and 100 meters deep. Initially, authorities were hopeful they could rescue the miners alive but as time passed, the lack of oxygen made it less and less likely that they would be found alive.
The seventh body had been located Thursday morning with the help of search dogs but it took rescuers most of the day to remove it from the mine. Around 10 p.m. Thursday the body was finally recovered, concluding the government’s rescue efforts.
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Mine Collapses
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Uptown Shelby Association cancels Shelby Alive concert
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The event has been canceled due to the delta variant of COVID-19 that continues to spread rapidly throughout Cleveland County and the state. In determining whether to move forward with the concert, the Uptown Shelby Association consulted with Atrium Health and the Cleveland County Public Health Center about the local metrics and trends of COVID-19. At its board meeting Tuesday, the Uptown Shelby Association Board of Directors made the decision to cancel the concert out of caution and concern for the health and safety of the community, according to a statement by the organization. USA Executive Director Audrey Whetten Godfrey said, “Atrium Health advised us that they are encouraging everyone to reconsider hosting and attending large events. We have enormous respect for our healthcare providers, and we could not in good conscience hold a potential super-spreader event. The last thing we want to do is add any strain on our local hospitals or cause exposure-related business closures. This decision will help protect the health of our community members and the capacity of our healthcare system.” In the announcement the association said it appreciates sponsors who made the 2021 concert series possible including Carolina Premium Beverage, city of Shelby, Carter Chevrolet, Bank OZK, Back Stage Productions and WOHS. “We know that Shelby Alive is a beloved community event, and our board weighed the considerations very carefully,” said Godfrey. “We’ve enjoyed seeing folks come out to our events this summer, and we look forward to gathering with our community once again when the COVID-19 situation has improved. We are grateful to our uptown businesses, our sponsors, community and our healthcare providers for the resilience and empathy that they have shown over the past 19 months. We look forward to brighter days ahead.”
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Organization Closed
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University selects Michael Bloomberg as commencement speaker
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While some students understand the University’s decision, others believe Bloomberg was not the appropriate choice to deliver this year’s commencement speech.
The University announced on May 14 that billionaire, philanthropist and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will give the commencement speech for the Class of 2021 on May 27. This year will be Bloomberg’s third time as the commencement speaker.
Bloomberg, a Hopkins alum, expressed appreciation for being chosen, stressing the importance of the University’s role in his life and highlighting the graduating class’s perseverance through the pandemic.
In an email to The News-Letter, Assistant Vice President for External Relations Karen Lancaster reported that University leaders chose Bloomberg because they believe that he best represents the University’s values.
“He is a doer who embraces big ideas and then brings them to life,” Lancaster wrote. “In this, he embodies the essence of his alma mater.”
Senior Julia Zeng does not agree with the University’s choice.
“Right now, given that the pandemic has had huge economic impacts and with anti-Asian hate and anti-Black hate, I don’t know if a billionaire white man was the most apt choice to give us something inspiring [with which] to walk forth,” Zeng said. “I don’t know if he will give us any substantial advice in our graduating year.”
Zeng believes that student input is necessary to choose interesting speakers, citing student-led speaker series such as the Foreign Affairs Symposium. According to Zeng, the University should have considered more input from seniors in particular.
“Administrators said that they chose Bloomberg early, but this shouldn’t be an excuse to not ask students for their opinion,” she said. “This year, I had to let go of so many things as a senior and now commencement is another thing that I’m not very excited about. It just feels very fake to me.”
According to senior Collete Chang thought the decision was predictable.
“I am honestly not at all surprised that the speaker is Mike Bloomberg, given his previous contributions to the University,” she said.
Bloomberg has donated over $1.8 billion in financial aid for the Class of 2021 as well as $150 million for the Vivien Thomas Scholars Initiative.
In an email to The News-Letter, Senior Class President William Cho expressed support for the decision.
“It’s exciting to have our most prominent and influential alum as our commencement speaker!” Cho wrote.
Junior Fabiana Corsi suggested that the chosen speaker should acknowledge key developments concerning race in Baltimore, including the city police department and the University’s private police force.
“Personally, [I believe] the ideal commencement speaker should be somewhat reflective of the unique year that the graduating class has had,” Corsi said. “I’m not sure that Michael Bloomberg will be a sincere speaker on the key issues that have shaped 2021.”
Michelle Limpe contributed reporting to this article.
Correction: The original version of this article incorrectly stated that Julia Zeng was a current member of the Student Government Association.
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Famous Person - Give a speech
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11-year-old girl released from hospital after being shot 5 times: 'I had to be strong for my mom'
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Vadyn King was released from Texas Children's Hospital and still recovering after being struck early Sunday morning. "I just want to thank God," Vadyn said. "I never thought this was going to happen." It was just after 5 a.m. when investigators said at least two people targeted the family's home on Blanchard Hill Lane in northeast Houston and fired dozens of bullets inside. "I was on the couch, and I fell off the ottoman. I just went in my mom's room and she just started screaming," said Vadyn. A bullet grazed Vadyn's face. She was also struck in the leg and arm. "I just wanted to be brave and strong for my mom," she said. "I didn't want to see her cry. I thought it was going to make me cry, so I had to be as strong as possible." Vadyn's right eye is stitched shut and swollen from her injuries, but after surgery, her family believes she will eventually be able to see out of it again. When asked whether they would return to their home of six years, Vadyn and her sisters said no, saying it is too traumatizing. As of now, her mother said they do not have somewhere concrete to stay. The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for Vadyn's medical expenses as she faces a long road to recovery.
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Famous Person - Recovered
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Joint Bulgarian-American Military Training Starts at Novo Selo Range
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At the "Novo Selo" training field begins the joint Bulgarian-American military excercise, which will last until October 19, 2019, informed the Ministry of Defense press center. It will involve forces and resources from the Ministry of Defense, the structures of direct subordination to the Minister of Defense and the Bulgarian Army. For Friday's preparations, a re-appointment of up to 400 soldiers with the necessary equipment, weapons and ammunition from the US Armed Forces in Europe began, as well as M2A3 Bradley Infantry Battles, UH-60 Blackhawk Helicopters and HH -60 "Pave Hawk", self-propelled mortar M1064, transport, auxiliary and repair equipment. In the framework of the joint training, shootings will take place at the Novo Selo Training Field and military helicopter training flights.
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Military Exercise
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