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2010 Tarco Airlines Antonov An-24 crash
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On 11 November 2010, an Antonov An-24 passenger aircraft of Tarco Airlines on a domestic service from Khartoum to Zalingei, Sudan, crashed on landing at Zalingei Airport, bursting into flames on the runway. [1] Two passengers died, although reports on the number of fatalities varied from one[2] to six.
The airplane had departed Khartoum International Airport at 13:27 on 11 November and, after a stopover at Nyala, arrived at Zalingei at 16:18, finding good weather conditions. The Antonov landed heavily on Zalingei's dirt runway 03, bounced and made another heavy contact with the ground, causing the landing gear and engines to shear off. Fuel from the ruptured wings ignited, and the resulting fire consumed most of the wreckage. [1]
The aircraft involved was a twin-turboprop Antonov An-24 with Sudanese registration ST-ARQ. It was built in 1970. [5]
Sudan's Air Accident Investigation Central Directorate (SAAICD) conducted an investigation into the crash. It found that the flight data recorder did not contain any data, and that the cockpit voice recorder contained only four minutes of recording, of which none where from the accident flight. [1]
The SAAICD attributed the accident to the flight crew's poor performance and co-ordination in executing the landing. Four safety recommendations were made. [1]
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Air crash
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Aeroflot Flight 1802 crash
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Aeroflot Flight 1802 (Russian: Рейс 1802 Аэрофлота Reys 1802 Aeroflota) was a commercial flight from Vinnytsia to Moscow that crashed after the rudder deflected sharply and the propellers feathered on 15 May 1976. [1] All 52 passengers and crew aboard the aircraft perished in the crash. [1]
The aircraft involved in the accident was an Antonov An-24RV, registered CCCP-46534 to Aeroflot. The aircraft rolled off the final assembly line February 27, 1975. In the aircraft's service life it accumulated 2,996 flight hours and 2,228 pressurization cycles. [2][3]
Six crew members were aboard the flight. The cockpit crew consisted of:[4]
Thunderclouds were present above the Chernihiv region sky for the duration of the flight. Moderate wind blowing southwest on a bearing of 250° at 6 m/s was present, along with moderate rain showers. Visibility on the ground at the airport was 10 kilometers with a cumulonimbus cloudcover. Flight 1802 was flying at an altitude of 5700 meters with a speed of 350 km/h when at approximately 10:47 the rudder suddenly deviated 25° to the right, changing the roll angle and yaw. The pilots responded quickly to this deflection by adjusting the ailerons in their attempts to reduce the roll. A few seconds later the rudder deflected 9°, and the elevators deviated resulting in 30° to pitch (nose held up). The airliner reached sharp angles of attack, and thus went into a tailspin. At the time of entry into the spin, the propellers were feathered. The airliner crashed 14.5 kilometers southeast of Chernigovskiy airport on a bearing of 245° at 10:48 with a rate of descent at nearly 100 m/s in uncontrolled flight. All 52 people on board the aircraft perished in the crash. [2]
The aircraft crashed due to loss of control caused by the rudder deflecting when the autopilot was disconnected, but the root cause of the rudder deflection was never determined. It is possible one of the pilots accidentally pushed the rudder trim control switch. Electrical failure could also have caused the mechanical issues. [1][2]
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Air crash
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Cheney: Trump is trying to 'unravel the foundations of our constitutional republic'
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Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney said at a New Hampshire event on Tuesday that the United States is "confronting a domestic threat that we have never faced before" in the form of former President Donald Trump, who she said is "attempting to unravel the foundations of our constitutional republic." Cheney also sharply criticized House Republicans for continuing to support Trump, saying that Trump reportedly said that the insurrection was on Election Day, rather than January 6, at the conference's annual fundraising dinner on Monday night. "Political leaders who sit silent in the face of these false and dangerous claims are aiding the former President who is at war with the rule of law, and the Constitution," Cheney said. "When our constitutional order is threatened, as it is now, rising above partisanship is not simply an aspiration. It is an obligation." Cheney is the top Republican on the House select committee investigating the attack on the Capitol , and was o ne of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump for "incitement of insurrection" following it. "We are also confronting a domestic threat that we have never faced before: A former president who's attempting to unravel the foundations of our constitutional republic, aided by political leaders, who have made themselves willing hostages to this dangerous and irrational man," said Cheney after ticking off the threats the US faces around the world. Read More Cheney gave on Tuesday the keynote address for a First Amendment award given by the Saint Anselm College's Institute of Politics. Her comments are sure to prompt speculation about a 2024 presidential run, which could potentially be against the former President. Cheney mentioned in her speech some of her ancestors who lived in New Hampshire, which holds the first primary, that she is a "conservative Republican" who disagrees "strongly with nearly everything President Biden has done since he has been in office," and supports "limited government, low taxes, a strong national defense" and family values. But while she opposed Biden's policies, she repeatedly took aim at the former President, calling him a "liar" who "tragically misled" Americans and "provoked violence" on January 6. "I love my party. I love its history. I love its principles," Cheney said. "But I love my country more. I know this nation needs a Republican Party that is based on truth." "We need a Republican Party that is led by people who remember that the peaceful transfer of power is sacred," she added. "We need Republican leaders who remember that fidelity to the Constitution, fidelity to the rule of law — those are the most conservative of conservative principles." In a statement on Tuesday, Trump again ripped the work of Cheney and her colleagues on the House committee investigating the deadly attack on the Capitol and falsely claimed that his 2020 loss was "fraudulent." "The Unselect Committee of politically ambitious hacks continues to subpoena people wanting to know about those protesting, on January 6th, the insurrection which took place during the Presidential Election of November 3rd," Trump said. "That's right, the Committee is studying the PROTEST when it should be studying the Fraudulent Election that led to the protest. As the LameStream Media knows, the facts are there for all to see!"
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Famous Person - Give a speech
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Norway’s Karsten Warholm breaks own world record to win Olympic 400 hurdles; United States’ Rai Benjamin takes silver, ‘happy to be part of history’
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Norway’s Karsten Warholm breaks own world record to win Olympic 400 hurdles; United States’ Rai Benjamin takes silver, ‘happy to be part of history’
Updated: Aug. 02, 2021, 10:21 p.m. |
Published: Aug. 02, 2021, 9:13 p.m.
Karsten Warholm (right) of Norway leads Rai Benjamin of the United States in the final of the men's 400-meter hurdles at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, in Tokyo. Warholm won in 45.94 seconds, breaking his own world record of 46.70. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)AP
By Eddie Pells | AP National Writer
TOKYO — Karsten Warholm of Norway obliterated his own world record in the Olympic 400-meter hurdles Tuesday, finishing in 45.94 seconds to break the old mark by .76 seconds.
One of the most anticipated races on the program more than lived up to the hype.
Second-place finisher Rai Benjamin of the United States finished in 46.17, also bettering the 46.70 record that Warholm set just last month.
“Sometimes in training, my coaches keep telling me this could be possible with the perfect race,” Warholm said of the prospect of breaking 46 seconds. “But it was hard to imagine it because it’s a big barrier, and it’s something you don’t even dream about.”
Warholm tore open his jersey when he crossed the line first. He flashed the same mouth-gaping look of amazement as when he announced himself on the world stage with his victory at world championships in 2017.
Karsten Warholm of Norway reacts after winning the men's 400-meter hurdles final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Tuesday, Aug. 3, 2021, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek)AP
Benjamin — well, what was there to say?
“If you would’ve told me that I was going to run 46.1 and lose, I would probably beat you up and tell you to get out of my room,” he said. “I’m happy to be part of history.”
Alison dos Santos of Brazil finished third in 46.72; he was among the six runners in the eight-man field to break either a world, continent or national record.
That included Kyron McMaster of the British Virgin Islands, whose run of 47.08 left him in fourth.
After the second hurdle, McMaster said he thought: “If you go after them, it’s suicidal.”
It took until 1948 for a man to run a flat 400 meters under 46 seconds, and the world record in the 400 flat is 43.03. That’s only 2.91 faster than what Warholm did with 10 hurdles in front of him.
“I knew it was possible to do the perfect race at the Olympics,” he said. “But I still can’t believe it. It’s the biggest moment of my life.”
All in all, it was a race that more than lived up to expectations on a steamy afternoon at a mostly empty Olympic Stadium.
Amazing but not unexpected.
The hype for this showdown started building at the U.S. Olympic trials in June, when Benjamin became only the fourth man to break 47 seconds with a run of 46.83 and pronounced he thought he had a low-46 in him.
Warholm responded a few weeks later by running the 46.70, and breaking the 29-year-old world record held by American Kevin Young since the Barcelona Olympics.
“I made some mistakes on the backstretch that cost me a little,” Benjamin said, as he held his thumb and his index finger a tiny space apart. “But he’s a great competitor. He runs really fast. You just have to get better.”
Starting in Lane 6, Warholm flew out to the lead, and by the midpoint, he had drawn so far ahead of Benjamin that the real race appeared to be Warholm vs. the clock.
Covering the distance between hurdles 13 powerful steps at a time, Warholm never came close to breaking stride. He sped over the line with arms-a-flailing, but that didn’t cost him much.
Low-46 had been a long-imagined dream for most of these hurdlers. Now, the mark is in the high-45s.
“Forty-seven would’ve been a record, or an Olympic record, four years ago, three years ago, eight years ago, whatever the case is,” said McMaster, the fourth-place finisher. “But 47.08 doesn’t get you a medal” today.
And, this race might have simply been the undercard for the women’s battle Wednesday morning in Tokyo.
Warholm’s record came 24 hours before Americans Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad were scheduled to square off in the women’s 400 hurdles — a race in which they’ve broken the world record the last three times they’ve squared off in a major competition.
-- The Associated Press
Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.
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Break historical records
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Eastern Air Lines Flight 605 crash
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Eastern Air Lines Flight 605 was a domestic flight in the US from Newark to Miami on May 30, 1947. The flight crashed near Bainbridge, Maryland, causing the deaths of all 53 passengers and crew on board in what was then the worst disaster in the history of North American commercial aviation. [1]
Flight 605 departed from Newark International Airport at 17:04 for a scheduled domestic flight to Miami. It climbed to its assigned cruising altitude of 4,000 feet (1,200 m). While flying over Philadelphia, the pilot reported "all is well". [2] At 17:41, people on the ground saw Flight 605 enter a steepening dive and crash 2 miles (3 km) east of Bainbridge. All four crew and 49 passengers died in the crash. At the time, Flight 605 was the deadliest crash in United States aviation history. [3]
The Civil Aviation Board's investigation of the crash determined that the probable cause of this accident was a sudden loss of control, for reasons unknown, resulting in a dive to the ground. [4]
In his book Fate Is the Hunter, Ernest K. Gann suggests that the crash was caused by unporting of the elevators due to a missing hinge bolt, Gann having narrowly avoided a similar fate himself on the same day. [5]
The DC-4 aircraft, serial number 18380, was built in 1944 and was delivered officially as a C-54B Skymaster to the United States Air Force in October 1944. On the same day it was transferred with the designation R5D-2 to the United States Navy. It was leased to Eastern Air Lines on November 29, 1945 as fleet number 708. Coordinates: 39°36′51″N 76°03′38″W / 39.614166°N 76.060632°W / 39.614166; -76.060632
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Air crash
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Pain in right buttock after carbon monoxide poisoning
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A woman in her 30s, eight weeks into her second pregnancy, was found disorientated at home. She had been lying on her right side in bed for about six hours in an airtight room with a coal stove that had nearly burnt out. On admission to the emergency department, she had a Glasgow coma scale score of 8 and her serum carboxyhaemoglobin level was 25%. Acute carbon monoxide poisoning was diagnosed.
The patient was assessed by a gynaecologist on admission. No fetal heart beat was detected on ultrasonography.
Chest computed tomography was requested to rule out pneumothorax before hyperbaric oxygen therapy was initiated for carbon monoxide poisoning.1
After 10 hours of hyperbaric oxygen therapy the woman regained full consciousness, and she mentioned pain in her right buttock. Examination revealed mild swelling and tenderness over the area. She had reduced sensation over her right thigh, but nothing else was found on neurological examination.
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Mass Poisoning
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Four people die as gold mine collapses in Nyatike
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At least four gold miners were killed and sixteen others injured after a gold mine wall collapsed at Osiri Matanda in Nyatike, Migori County. The authorities attributed the Wednesday evening accident to the activities going on in the tunnel and the weak walls. “The four miners are amongst those who were trying to build the tunnel when a big stone fell on them,” Mikai Area chief David Oula told The standard. According to the Chief those who died are Ezra Juma, Charles Owino, Oyudi and Asiko, aged between 30 and 35 years. “The rest who suffered injuries were taken to Migori Referral Hospital where they were treated and later discharged,” Oula said. War that pushed Boers to trek from S Africa to Eldoret Beryl Jerop: Quest for justice for student who died in school continues Lilian Nganga: My life in danger Family's agony after body of Covid-19 victim held over Sh3.2m bill This happens a year after six miners were buried alive at Nyatike coppers mines. Oula urged the miners to keep off the gold mine site during this rainy season. “The bodies of the diseased have been taken to Migori County Referral Hospital where autopsy will be done,” Chief Oula said. Death of Opposition: 2018 Handshake changed the political scene with opposition in bed with Gov't
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Mine Collapses
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Julia Morris' marriage breakdown: "My fresh start!"
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Julia Morris’ 16-year marriage to Welsh comedian, Dan Thomas, has reportedly come to an end. - by New Idea team 04 Oct 2021 Julia Morris’ 16-year marriage to Welsh comedian, Dan Thomas, has reportedly come to an end, thanks in large part to Victoria’s testing pandemic lockdowns. WATCH: Julia Morris revealed as Kitten on The Masked Singer New Idea understands the couple realised their relationship had “simply run its course” before calling time a few months ago. “It’s all very amicable. They are still figuring things out, but there’s two children involved and Julia and Dan are determined to put their daughters first,” tells a friend, who confirms there’s no nastiness between either party. “They’ve been through a lot together and I think they realised it was time to move on. I’m pretty sure they will stay friends,” adds the pal. Julia, 53, has reportedly shared the news with friends and her colleagues, including co-host Dr Chris Brown, on the NSW set of I’m A Celebrity ... Get Me Out Of Here!, where she has been for weeks, while Dan remains in Melbourne. Julia and Dan share two children together. News of the marriage breakdown comes after Julia publicly revealed she’d had an eyelid lift and gotten “the beef cut out of her eyes”. She’s also recently embarked on a three-month weight-loss journey. The friend says Julia is currently focusing on her children, as well as on her own physical and mental wellbeing. She and Dan met two decades ago in London through mutual friends and got married in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve in 2005. They share two daughters, Ruby, 15, and Sophie, 13, who they’re still raising together. Julia recently showed off her eye surgery. Instagram Julia is the first to admit that their relationship hasn’t always been perfect. Earlier this year she told Stellar magazine that she thinks about leaving Dan “once a year” because of their arguments. However, she did also concede she couldn’t imagine being without the man she nursed through breast cancer in 2012.
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Famous Person - Marriage
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Secretary of the Army commends 'Sky Soldiers' in Lithuania
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RUKLA, Lithuania (May 20, 2014) -- Secretary of the Army John McHugh met with paratroopers from 1st Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, 173rd Airborne Brigade, here, Sunday, during an official visit to assess the results of the brigade's recent unscheduled deployment to the Baltic nations and Poland. The paratroopers in Lithuania are participating in Exercise Black Arrow, a training event designed to improve interoperability between NATO land forces. Paratroopers from the combined force conducted an airfield seizure the previous day as part of the tactical scenario. "We are currently doing an exercise in which we are partnered with the Lithuanians," said Maj. Anthony Costello, commander of the brigade's element here. "One of our companies is integrated into one of their battalions. It's a phenomenal opportunity for us to work on increasing our NATO interoperability." "Your participation in this mission is critical," said McHugh as he spoke with American and Lithuanian troops in the field. "This is a valuable opportunity to work with our allies and to learn from each other." McHugh will also meet with other elements of the brigade deployed to Latvia and Estonia, as well as the military leadership of those nations. The 173rd Airborne Brigade, based in Vicenza, Italy, is the Army Contingency Response Force in Europe, and is capable of projecting forces to conduct the full of range of military operations across the United States European, Central and Africa Commands areas of responsibility. Approximately 600 paratroopers from the brigade are in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, as part of an unscheduled land-forces exercise to demonstrate commitment to NATO obligations and sustain interoperability with allied forces.
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Military Exercise
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Clinical Profile and Treatment Outcome of Aluminum Phosphide Poisoning in Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital, Northwest Ethiopia: A Retrospective Study
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1Private Practice, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; 2Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia; 3Amhara Public health Institute, Bahir Dar, Ethiopia
Correspondence: Dereje Endeshaw Bogale Email [email protected]
Background: Aluminum phosphide (AlP) is an effective fumigant and rodenticide which is a commonly used agent for self-poisoning in parts of Ethiopia. AlP poisoning results in serious manifestations involving many vital organs and it has high mortality. Despite its high incidence and mortality, studies on AlP poisoning in Ethiopia are lacking. Our objective was to study the clinical profile and treatment outcome of AlP poisoning in Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital (FHRH), a major referral hospital in Ethiopia. Methods: It is a retrospective study conducted over all consecutive AlP poisoning cases who presented to the emergency department (ED) of the hospital from March 2018 to August 2020. A questionnaire was used to collect data from patient medical records. All data were analyzed using SPSS 25. Results: A total of 125 patients were studied. Females were 57.6% and males were 42.4%. Age of patients ranged from 12 to 60 with mean age 28.5 years. The average number of AlP tablets taken was 1.2 (3.6 gm) and the average time of arrival to hospital after AlP ingestion was 4.8 hours. Nausea and vomiting were the commonest presenting features seen in 74.4% of the cases followed by hypotension which was seen in half of the cases. A wide range of laboratory findings and complications were also observed. Cases of AlP poisoning with hypotension were managed in the ICU with dopamine infusion, magnesium sulphate, hydrocortisone, and calcium gluconate in addition to gastric lavage and fluid administration. Those cases without hypotension were managed with gastric lavage and maintenance fluid only. Overall mortality from AlP poisoning was 31.2%. Conclusion: With a treatment protocol used in FHRH, mortality from AlP poisoning was 31.2%. Using this protocol in resource limited settings might give opportunities to reduce mortality from AlP poisoning. Keywords: aluminum phosphide, poisoning, magnesium sulphate, protocol, hypotension
Background
Aluminum phosphide (AlP) is a cheap and commonly used rodenticide. It is also an effective solid fumigant that is frequently used for grain preservation. AlP is marketed as dark grey 3-gram tablet and the common brand names are Celphos, Alphos, Synfume, Phostek, Phostoxin, Phosfume and Quickphos. Because it is freely available in the market and accessibility is not controlled in developing countries, it is one of the commonly used agents for self-poisoning in different parts of the developing world. 1 , 2
AlP liberates a highly toxic phosphine gas (PH3) when it comes in contact with water or moisture or with hydrochloric acid (HCL) in the stomach. 1–3 Toxicity to humans is most commonly after ingestion of AlP although toxicity from inhalation and absorption from the skin are possible. 2 , 3 When AlP is ingested, phosphine gas is released from the reaction of AlP with HCL and water in the stomach. This highly toxic phosphine gas (PH3) then diffuses through the gastrointestinal tract and distributed throughout the body resulting in systemic toxicity. 2 Phosphine inhibits cytochrome c oxidase which leads to the inhibition of oxidative phosphorylation and cellular respiration by up to 70%. Overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) with subsequent cellular damage leads to eventual cell death. 4 Organs with higher oxygen demands such as the heart, lung, kidney, liver and brain are more sensitive to PH3-induced damage involving oxygen free-radicals production. 5
The most frequently seen clinical features of AlP poisoning include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and hemodynamic instability. 6 , 7 Other features may include restlessness, headache, diarrhea, fatigue, cough, dyspnea, cyanosis and central nervous system (CNS) involvement resulting in seizure and varying degrees of altered level of consciousness. 7 , 8 Cardiovascular involvement results in tachycardia, palpitation, marked hypotension, and ultimately unresponsive shock. AlP poisoning may have complications such as hepatic failure, pancreatitis, pleural effusion, pulmonary edema, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), congestive heart failure, arrhythmia, acute renal failure, and disseminated intravascular coagulation. 3 , 8 , 9 Several electrocardiogram (ECG) changes ranging from ST segment elevation/depression, T wave changes, supraventricular tachycardia, atrial flutter/fibrillation, QRS interval prolongation, variable degrees of heart block, to life threatening ventricular tachycardia and ventricular fibrillation were observed in different studies. 10–12
Laboratory abnormalities associated with AlP poisoning include leucopenia, leukocytosis, hyperglycemia, increased creatinine and blood urea nitrogen (BUN), increased serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) and serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase (SGPT), metabolic acidosis and electrolyte abnormalities of serum potassium and magnesium. 9 , 13–16
Treatment of AlP poisoning is mainly supportive as there is no effective antidote. Many agents have been proposed and tried in experimental and clinical studies. Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4), as an antioxidant and cell membrane stabilizer, has been commonly used as therapeutic agent in AlP poisoning although contradictory results have been reported concerning its use. Some studies indicate that AlP poisoning causes hypomagnesemia supporting the mortality benefit of supplementing magnesium sulfate, 15 , 16 while others showed AlP poisoning was not associated with hypomagnesemia and claimed magnesium sulfate did not improve survival. 17 , 18
Other agents which may serve as antidotes for AlP poisoning include melatonin, coconut oil, N-acetylcysteine, sodium selenite, vitamin C and E, triiodothyronine, liothyronine, vasopressin, milrinone, Laurus nobilis L., 6-aminonicotinamide, boric acid and acetyl-L-carnitine. 2 , 19–21
Mortality from AlP poisoning ranges from 37% to 100%. Its fatal dose for an adult human being ranges from 0.15 to 0.5 grams. 8 , 9 , 14
Although published papers on AlP poisoning in Ethiopia are lacking, a study done in Northwest Ethiopia showed rodenticides were the commonest agents for self-poisoning and it was associated with high mortality. 22 The aim of our study was to characterize the clinical profile of these patients and assess their treatment outcome. Methods
Study Design and Period
This study is an institution-based retrospective study that was conducted over all consecutive cases of AlP poisoning who presented to Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital (FHRH) from March 2018 to August 2020 over a period of two and half years. Study Setting
Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital is a major referral hospital in Bahir Dar city, Northwest Ethiopia with a catchment population of more than 5 million. All cases of AlP poisoning were first seen in the emergency department. Gastric lavage with normal saline (NS) was done on every patient. All patients were also administered intravenous (IV) fluids, but central venous pressure was not monitored. Patients were closely monitored for hemodynamic instability and other vital signs. All cases of AlP poisoning who had hypotension, defined as systolic blood pressure (SBP) less than 90mmHg, were managed in the intensive care unit (ICU) with dopamine infusion, magnesium sulphate, hydrocortisone IV injection, and calcium gluconate infusion. All these treatments were given to AlP poisoning cases with hypotension. Supportive Treatment in the Emergency Department
-Gastric lavage with 1–2 liters of Normal Saline (NS) for all patients (Potassium permanganate (KMnO4) is not available). -NS 2–3 liters to run fast for hypotensive patients. -Maintenance fluid, NS/5%DW 1 liter every 8 hours for non-hypotensive patients. Regimen in the ICU (for Hypotensive Patients)
-Dopamine 5µg/kg/minute infusion. -Hydrocortisone 200mg IV QID for 48 hours. -Calcium gluconate 1 vial (10mL of 10% solution) with 10mL of NS to run over 10 minutes slowly, QID for 48 hours. -MgSO4 1gm (2mL of 50% solution) with 5mL of NS IV push over 2 minutes, and MgSO4 0.5 mg (1mL) with 1 mL of lidocaine IM on each buttock. -Then MgSO4 1gm in 100mL of NS after 1 hour, 2 hours and 3 hours for consecutive 3 hours. -Then MgSO4 1gm in 100mL of NS IV TID for 48 hours. Data Collection
Case records of AlP poisoning were retrieved with their record numbers. Data were collected by using a structured questionnaire from the patient charts. Information about sociodemographic variables, number of AlP tablets ingested, time lag from ingestion to hospital arrival, clinical features, laboratory abnormalities, treatment administered, patient outcome and duration of hospital stay was collected. Patient outcome was categorized as improved, expired and patient went against medical advice. All the cases in this study were also categorized as hypotensive and non-hypotensive based on systolic blood pressure (SBP). Available ECG papers obtained from the medical records were interpreted by a cardiologist. Statistical Analysis
Data completeness was checked manually and those with incomplete information were excluded from the study. The collected data were then transferred to SPSS version 25 statistical software and analyzed. Simple descriptive statistics such as frequencies, percentages, mean, and standard deviation were used to characterize the variables and comparison between two groups was made by independent t-test for quantitative data. A P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Ethical Considerations
Ethical clearance with reference number H/R/T/T/D/3/935 was obtained from Amhara Public Health Institute. Permission to conduct this study at Felege Hiwot Referral Hospital was confirmed by the hospital administration office. Patient informed consent was waived as it was a retrospective medical record review and patient data were maintained with confidentiality. The data were used only for the study purpose. Results
During the 30 months study period from March 2018 to August 2020, 141 case records of AlP poisoning were traced. Patient records with incomplete documentation, ambiguous history and/or poisoning involving multiple agents were excluded and a total of 125 case records were included in this study. There were 72 (57.6%) females and 53 (42.4%) males with a female to male ratio of 1.4. Age of patients ranged from 12 to 60 with mean age 28.5 years and standard deviation of 10.8. Most cases were in the age group of 11 to 30 years. Fifty-three cases (42.4%) were in the age group 21–30 years and 36 cases (28.8%) were in the age group 11–20 years ( Figure 1 ). Figure 1 Percentage distribution of cases by age category. Ninety-seven (77.6%) cases were from rural areas and nearby small towns and only 28 (22.4%) cases were from Bahir Dar city. All cases were suicidal and the two most commonly reported reasons for taking the poison were disagreement with family members (11.2%) and quarrel with opposite sex partner (10.4%). Other reasons were documented in 4% of the cases. In the majority of cases (74.4%), the reason for taking the poison was unknown. The amount of AlP tablets taken ranged from one-fourth of a tablet to 6 tablets. Nearly half (51.2%) of the cases took 1 full tablet only, and the majority of the rest took either half tablet or two tablets. The average number of AlP tablets taken was 1.2 (3.6 gm) in this study. The average number of tablets for the improved and expired group was 1.0 tablet and 1.6 tablet respectively. This difference was found statistically significant (P=0.006). The time lag between ingestion of AlP tablet and arrival to the hospital ranged from as early as 20 minutes to 24 hours. The majority of patients arrived within 4 hours (61%), and nearly 90% arrived within 7 hours. Only 6 patients arrived after 12 hours. The mean time lag to hospital arrival was 4.8 hours with standard deviation of 3.67 hrs. The average time lag for the improved and expired group of patients was 5.0 hours and 4.8 hours respectively and the difference was not statistically significant (P=0.82). The most common clinical presentations observed were nausea and vomiting seen in 93 patients (74.4%). Two patients had bloody vomiting. Epigastric pain was seen in 42 patients (33.6%). Sixty-three patients (50.4%) were hypotensive. Fifty-three patients (42.4%) were hypotensive at the time of admission and additional 10 patients (8%) developed hypotension after they were admitted. Pulse was not palpable in 34 patients due to severe hypotension. The mean pulse rate for the remaining 91 patients was 96/min. Other less commonly observed presenting features include headache, fatigue, diarrhea, restlessness, and change in mentation ranging from confusion to deep coma. Observed laboratory abnormalities include leukocytosis, leukopenia, anemia, hyperglycemia, elevated BUN and creatinine levels. Liver enzyme abnormalities seen include increased levels of SGOT up to seven times upper normal level (UNL) and increased SGPT up to four times UNL. Slight elevation in serum alkaline phosphatase and bilirubin levels, hypokalemia, hyperkalemia and hyperchloremia were noted in few patients ( Table 1 ). Table 1 Observed Laboratory Results
There were two cases who developed severe anemia in this study. Both took one tablet of AlP, and they had unrecordable blood pressure at admission. Hemoglobin done on second day of admission was 3.8 g/dl and 5.3 g/dl. Both had elevated creatinine (4.15 mg/dl and 3.26 mg/dl) and low WBC count (1.6×103/mm3 and 1.83×103/mm3). Peripheral morphology and bilirubin levels were not done in these patients. The first one died on the 2nd day of admission and the other (HIV patient on antiretroviral therapy, regimen unknown) improved after transfusion and discharged after 11 days of stay in the hospital. Electrocardiographic changes observed in our study include sinus tachycardia, short PR interval, ST segment depression, ST segment elevation, peaked T waves, T wave inversions, 2° AV block and incomplete LBBB. Complications which patients developed during their course in the hospital include congestive heart failure, pleural effusion, pulmonary edema, ARDS, acute renal failure and acute hepatic failure. Out of the total 125 patients included in this study, 39 (31.2%) patients expired, 78 (62.4%) improved, and 8 patients (6.4%) went against medical advice. On sub-group analysis, all the recorded deaths were in the hypotensive group. Out of the 63 patients with hypotension (SBP<90mmHg), 9 patients expired on arrival or shortly after admission before treatment with MgSO4, calcium gluconate, hydrocortisone and dopamine infusion was started in the ICU. All the remaining 54 cases in the hypotensive group were treated with MgSO4, IV Calcium gluconate, IV hydrocortisone and dopamine infusion. Mortality in this treated group (hypotensive patients treated with the above regimen) was 55.6% (30/54).
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Mass Poisoning
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Rampaging caterpillars in Liberia threaten disaster across ...
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Rampaging caterpillars in Liberia threaten disaster across region, warns UN
29 January 2009
A United Nations official has warned today that a UN-led team of experts is in a race against time in its attempt to halt a vast plague of caterpillars, known as armyworms, which has already swarmed across northern Liberia and threatens to march into neighbouring West African countries, destroying all crops and water supplies in its path.
The enormous infestation of tens of millions of armyworms, one of the most destructive of insect pests, has forced the Liberian President, Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, to call a national emergency in a country where access to food is already precarious.
“The millions-strong caterpillar hordes devour all vegetation in their path and pollute wells and streams with their excrements wherever they go,” said Representative of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization ( FAO ) in Liberia, Winfred Hammond.
Some 100 villages in northern and central Liberia have now been affected and six communities in neighbouring Guinea to the north had also been struck, in some cases overrunning buildings and sending residents fleeing in panic. According to Liberian authorities, the emergency involves about 500,000 villagers.
Mr. Hammond warned that much worse could be in store as many of the caterpillars had bored into the ground, out of reach of pesticides, and formed protective cocoons around themselves, waiting to re-emerge as moths in a week or so.
“Each moth can fly up to 1,000 kilometers and lay 1,000 eggs,” explained Mr. Hammond, who is an entomologist, stressing that “potentially, that's a recipe for disaster.”
Setting pheromone traps against male moths to avert the pending catastrophe is one of the possibilities the FAO team, comprising of experts from Ghana, Sierra Leone and Liberia, is considering. The traps would be baited with the scent females use to lure males into mating.
Meanwhile, the Agriculture Ministry is using powerful pesticide sprayers to reach armyworms in the foliage of tall Dahoma trees, where they tend to congregate.
“That’s a very strange way for them to behave. Normally they like to stay much closer to the ground,” said Mr. Hammond, offering climate change as a possible explanation for the abnormal behaviour.
For its part, the UN peacekeeping mission in Liberia ( UNMIL ) is providing logistical support and security to government officials and experts as they carry out fact-finding visits to some of the difficult to access remote areas of the country affected by plague.
FAO has established a task force which has drafted an immediate response plan and has begun developing medium and short-term measures aimed at reducing the impact of the emergency, and the Government has set up three emergency committees to tackle planning, resource mobilization and communication strategies.
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Insect Disaster
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2006 Kiholo Bay earthquake
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The 2006 Kīholo Bay earthquake occurred on October 15 at 07:07:49 local time with a magnitude of 6.7 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of VIII (Severe). The shock was centered 21 kilometers (13 mi) southwest of Puakō and 21 km (13 mi) north of Kailua-Kona, Hawaiʻi, just offshore of the Kona Airport, at a depth of 38.2 km (23.7 mi). It produced several aftershocks, including one that measured a magnitude of 6.1 seven minutes after the main shock. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center measured a nondestructive tsunami of 4 in (100 mm) on the coast of the Big Island. [4]
The island of Hawaii is affected by earthquakes related to three main causes. Some are associated with the movement of magma and tend to be shallow focus (less than 5 km depth). The largest earthquakes are those caused by overall gravitational spreading of the volcano, whether within the volcano's flanks or at the base of the volcanic pile. They tend to have focal depths in the range 5–13 km. The final group of earthquakes are those caused by flexure of the oceanic lithosphere underlying the island as a result of loading by the volcano. The type of stresses within the flexing lithosphere depends on depth relative to the neutral surface, with radial compression and associated tangential tension below about 22 km and radial tension and tangential compression above that level. Earthquakes of this type can have focal depths as deep as 60 km. [5]
The earthquake had a hypocentral depth of 38.2 km and a focal mechanism of normal faulting. The depth shows that it was in the mantle lithosphere, beneath the neutral surface with a mechanism consistent with tangential tension. The largest aftershock was significantly shallower at 18 km and had a focal mechanism of reverse faulting. The depth and mechanism are consistent with tangential compression above the neutral surface. [5]
Modified Mercalli Intensities were VII–VIII (Very strong–Severe) on the western side of the island of Hawaii, and VI (Strong) on the eastern side of Maui. Intensity V (Moderate) shaking was felt all the way to Oʻahu, where patches of moderate damage were reported. [6] The earthquake caused property damage, injuries, landslides, power outages, and airport delays and closures. [4] Governor Linda Lingle issued a disaster declaration for the entire state. [7][8]
The most severe damage caused by the earthquake was focused on the north and western sides of the island of Hawaii. Damage was also quite heavy on the eastern side of Maui, and minor damage spread all the way out to western Oʻahu, 170 miles (270 km) away from the earthquake's epicenter. On the Big Island, many houses had large cracks and broken windows, and at least 61 buildings were destroyed and red-tagged by officials. Almost all houses in west Hawaii reported extensive internal damage but most avoided significant structural damage, the reason being that most of the buildings in the area around the epicenter of the earthquake have been built in the last few decades and are well constructed. Even so, over $200 million in damage occurred. [9]
The largest and most luxurious hotels on the Island of Hawaii also happened to be clustered within ten miles (16 km) of the earthquake's epicenter along the Kohala coast. The 1965 Mauna Kea Beach Hotel had its entire south end collapse, and the hotel's top floor was considered "destroyed." The hotel closed December 1 after a month-long inspection revealed that the building was unsafe and in danger of collapse. After a $150 million renovation, the hotel had a soft reopening on December 20, 2008, and officially reopened in March 2009. [10] The Hapuna Beach Prince Hotel was temporarily evacuated after the earthquake due to structural damage, broken glass and flooding caused by broken water pipes. The Surety Kohala Corporation assessed the structural integrity to their Kohala Ditch, which functioned as a tourist attraction for 10 years. Many roads and bridges collapsed or had deep cracks, and clean-up crews had to work for days to remove debris from the countless landslides. Many landmarks on the island were greatly affected. The Kalahikiola Congregational Church in Kohala was destroyed due to the collapse of the church's stone walls; the Hawi smoke stack, a relic of the old sugarcane trade, completely collapsed as well. The Hulihee Palace in Kailua Kona suffered extensive structural damage. [11] Another popular tourist area, Kealakekua Bay, home of the white monument to Captain James Cook, was swept over by massive landslides that caused the entire bay and its surrounding areas to momentarily disappear in a thick cloud of brown dust. [12]
During the earthquake and aftershocks, a number of the telescopes at the Mauna Kea Observatories sustained minor damage, primarily Kecks 1 and 2 at the W. M. Keck Observatory, and the Canada–France–Hawaii Telescope (CFHT). [13] The CFHT was operational and back online as of October 19,[14] but the Kecks were not restored to full operation until February 28, 2007. [15]
Power plants on Maui and the Big Island automatically shut off power to prevent damage, and generators tripped on Oahu, causing overloads in the electrical grid. [16] The Oahu power outages lasted 14 hours in some locations; only half of Hawaiian Electric Company's (HECO) Oahu customers had power restored before 9 pm, while outages generally lasted to about 5 pm on Maui and Hawaii. Power was restored to all HECO circuits by 1:55 am; however, there were isolated blackouts due to local problems, such as blown fuses. Power in Laie and Kahuku was not restored until 3 am. In Honolulu and Kahe, HECO generators shut down, and other generators tried to compensate, resulting in uneven loads on Oahu's electrical network and causing the system to shut down to prevent damage. [17]
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Earthquakes
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Not-for-profit Generic Drug Company Officially Established, Attracts Interest of More Than 120 Health Organizations
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We are dedicated to lowering healthcare costs to enable seniors to successfully age in place with access to high-quality, affordable health and support services that preserve and protect their dignity, quality of life and independence. 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 Salt Lake City, UT, September 6, 2018 – 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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Office for Civil Rights investigating allegations of discrimination at Carroll ISD
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The Department of Education opened three investigations last week into allegations of discrimination based on "race, color, national origin or sex." The department did not provide any further specifics about the complaints.
SOUTHLAKE, Texas - Southlake's Carroll ISD is cooperating with a federal civil rights investigation.
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights opened three investigations last week into allegations of discrimination based on "race, color, national origin or sex." The department did not provide any further specifics about the complaints.
Carroll ISD described it as "student situations," so it is unable to provide more details due to the Federal Act to Education Privacy Act (FERPA). The district said it is providing all documents requested by investigators.
Carroll ISD has received national attention over a plan to require diversity training and cultural sensitivity awareness.
RELATED: Frustration continues in Southlake over Carroll ISD's delay of new diversity plan
Carroll ISD graduate Raven Rolle is a member of the Southlake Anti Racism Coalition. It’s a group that championed the Cultural Competency Action Plan, which called for cultural sensitivity training for students and teachers among other programs.
"I experienced a lot of racism when I was in Carroll ISD so that’s not shocking at all," she said.
The diversity plan was created as a response to a viral video in 2018 showing white Carroll ISD students using the n-word.
A vocal political action committee has encouraged parents to oppose the plan and threw its support behind three school board candidates who campaigned against it and won.
The plan’s now on hold and will likely never be adopted.
FOX 4 made several attempts to contact those school board members and their supporters, but we didn’t get a response.
"Students have been speaking up for so long trying to get some help, and it seems like no one has been listening to them," Rolle said.
And while the nature of the three complaints is unclear, Rolle says their existence only supports the idea that a district diversity and inclusion plan is critical for Carroll ISD.
"There has to be something in writing that will tell the administration how certain situations need to be handled and how they can do their job better," Rolle said.
Carroll ISD Superintendent Lane Ledbetter addressed the community division in a video update last week, but it’s unclear if he was aware of the complaints at the time.
"It's a new day in Carroll ISD," he said. "We're not going to go back and talk about what happened last semester, what happened last year, what happened two years ago. O can't do anything about that."
The district concluded its statement with: "our focus will always be what is best for our students as we prepare them for their next steps in their educational journey."
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate
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UPDATE: 73-year-old woman charged in Cache bank robbery
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CACHE, Okla. (TNN) - A 73-year-old Indiahoma woman is looking at no less than 5-years in prison if convicted on an armed robbery charge filed by the Comanche County District Attorney. Helen Wright was arrested Tuesday after being accused of going into the All American Bank in Cache and taking $700. Investigators say Wright told a bank employee through clinched teeth “I need some money. You have to help me and I have a gun.” She was later arrested at the Apache Casino in Lawton. Police say they found Wright in her car with a loaded gun under her leg.
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Bank Robbery
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Military Coups d’État and Guinea’s Rocky Road to Political Stability
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by Bintu Zahara Sakor , Mohammed Sacko and Vamo Soko & filed under Governance , Regions and Powers While the fate of Guinea’s former President Alpha Condé remains unclear following a military coup on September 5, the ongoing political turmoil is most likely a beginning of a repetitive cycle of a semi-democratic military governance observed across West Africa. Military parade following the coup in Guinea. Photo: Aboubacarkhoraa / Wikimedia Commons Security Defection: Domestic vs. International Community Reactions Guinea is, yet again, facing political uncertainty after elite security forces overthrew the president in a coup. The coup was led by the head of Guinea’s special forces, Lt. Col Mamady Doumbouyah, who is said to have served in the French legion and received military training from the United States, through US AFRICOM (U.S. Africa Command). Following the coup, Col. Doumbouyah appeared on Guinean state television together with his armed soldiers. They announced that the president had been detained, the constitution dissolved, and that a nationwide curfew had been imposed. This coup followed a year which saw numerous violent protests The unfavorable political development of this impoverished, yet resource-rich nation comes as no surprise for many. This coup followed a year which saw numerous violent protests led by the main opposition party, headed by Cellou Dalein Diallo and his supporters, against a constitutional change and an election which was allegedly fraudulently won by Alpha Condé’s party. It should be noted that despite holding the world’s largest bauxite reserves, Guinea remains one of the poorest countries in the world, with most of its population living under less than 1 dollar per day. Meanwhile, President Condé’s demise sparked a wave of celebrations across the Guinean capital Conakry and other large cities. However, around the world, the event was condemned by several regional actors and the international community as a whole, these include the United States, United Nations and African Union. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS has been specifically vocal about its disapproval of the violent takeover by the special forces. The bloc has not only demanded an immediate release of the former president, but it has also imposed sanctions on the junta regime. In order to understand the severe implications of this coup on Guinea’s political development, it is important to provide a brief insight into Guinea’s complex history of military interventions. Historical Perspective: Analysis of Military Coup d’États in Guinea’s Political History Since the years of independence, Africa has experienced more than 200 military coups. In West Africa, a military coup d’état is a pre-emptive strike on a, for the most part, considerably fragile and immature democratic system. In fact, military coups have become endemic on the African continent. For instance, since the years of independence, Africa has experienced more than 200 military coups, counting both successful and failed coup attempts . It’s not only a sting to the democratic processes in the region, but also the economic development of these nations. In the case of Guinea, its first major military coup was staged by Captain Moussa Dadis Camara and his military colleagues of The National Council for Democracy and Development (Conseil National pour la Démocratie et le Développement; CNDD), six hours after the death of President Lansana Conté was announced on the December 23, 2008. On September 28, 2008, 157 people were killed during one of the rallies at the sport stadium in Conakry by the coup leaders, and this tragedy was one of bloodiest moment in Guinea politics. Alpha Condé became the first-ever democratically elected president in Guinea’s history in 2010. With the intensification of the international community’s involvement in the investigation process of this tragedy, in order to bring the perpetrators to justice, an internal conflict arose among the military, which intensified on December 3, 2009. With the murder of Captain Camara in December 2009, President Alpha Condé became the first-ever democratically elected president in Guinea’s history in 2010. The popularity of President Alpha Condé, however, started to become problematic among ordinary Guineans and the international community when he, in 2020, announced a constitutional referendum to allow him to run for his third term in office. Although the new constitution contained improvements for human rights, such as raising the age of marriage to 18 years, a total ban on Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) of Guinean girls, slavery and child labour, and equal rights to spouses in marriage and divorce, the concept of a new constitution meant a new republic. This was a political manipulation by Mr. Alpha Condé in order to further his political ambitions. As a result, public discontent towards President Condé rapidly grew and metastasized, and also spread across all of Guinea in a short period of time due to various socio-political factors. Meanwhile, a week before the coup d’état and detention of President Alpha Condé, a new spending loophole was proposed for the National Assembly and the President’s Office. This move would have resulted in a massive cut in the budget of security forces, police and military officials, a shift which not only caused uproar among some key military generals, but eventually led to the coup on the September 5. Constitutional and Military Coups: A Regional Trend on the Rise? Guinea is the third West African country to experience a violent transfer in a six-month period. The coup observed in Guinea is an outcome of an upward trend of military coups observed across West Africa in recent years. In fact, Guinea is the third West African country to experience a violent transfer in a six-month period. In April, Chad president Idriss Déby was killed while visiting frontlines and was replaced by his son , and in May, Mali saw its second coup in nine months, following the arrest of the President and Prime Minister . During the same month, a failed military coup was crushed in Niger, days before the inauguration of the President. While the number of coups is increasing in some parts of the region, other parts (e.g. Ghana and Senegal) continue to enjoy relative political stability and consolidated democracy. It is important to note that the unfavourable trend of military coups observed in Guinea and other parts of the West/Sahelian region is not a recent trend. However, two factors differentiate these new military coups from the older ones. Democratic Coup d’État: A Symptom of Constitutional Coups? Many of the West African governments have not only failed to attain sustainable economic development, but have in the recent years moved gradually towards undermining constitutional democracy. The so-called constitutional crisis, which has seen many African incumbent leaders, including Alpha Condé and Alassane Ouattara , altering constitutions to allow them to stay in power, has not only resulted in lack of confidence in the general electoral system, but it has also provided the military segment more room to manoeuvre and claim their role in this political game. To frame it another way, the international community and regional actors’ inability to effectively deal with and hold various African leaders accountable for power abuse and manipulation of the electoral procedures, combined with the military being too close to power in the countries, means that violent transfers such as military coups against established democracies are not inevitable in this region. In many of these instances, as the case of Guinea has demonstrated, these coups can even be categorized under what scholar Ozan Varol (2012) describes as a “democratic coup d’état”. This refers to coups that respond to “popular opposition against authoritarian or totalitarian regimes”, and by overthrowing these regimes thereby claim to promote a more inclusive political approach and facilitate free and fair elections. In hindsight, despite expressing some sense of anti-democratic features, the military coup undertaken in Guinea had some democracy-promoting tendencies. Specifically, the mutinous junta, which has vowed to not only eradicate endemic corruption and restore democracy, but also economic progress (which the country has been lacking since the independence from France in 1958). The junta claims to be acting in the best interests of the nation’s 12.7 million population. Meanwhile, it is important to note that the role played by the international community in mitigating or increasing these trends will be crucial in the years to come. What’s Next for Guinea? Many challenges appear to be ahead of the so-called interim government, which is governed by the military and meant to provide a transitional period. Despite viewing themselves as the vanguards of a better future, the lack of a coherent blueprint, so far, for how to achieve a so-called democratic reform may lead to failure of living up to their promises of a peaceful democratic transition, inclusive political approach and implementation of reforms to tackle corruption. Furthermore, acts of self-serving behaviour, through institutional and constitutional entrenchment by the military, may result in abuse of power and public trust with no structural changes brought about. Consequently, while seeking public consent, legitimacy and stability, the political system may remain unaltered with power concentrated in the hands of few, similar to the former regime. Another reasonable fear is that, in the case where an election is held, this may be done solely to provide legitimacy to the interim military government and reassure the international community about its limited political role in this short span of time. Internal power struggle is also another factor that most likely is not inevitable within the army, which is currently trying hard to unify various military branches under one leadership. This development could see a disruption in the bauxite mining and send more shock waves to the international bauxite market. This in return can have economic implications for foreign powers such as China, which is currently Guinea’s largest importer of the mineral that makes aluminium . Moving forward, it will also be interesting to see the role played by the regional and international community in guiding Guinea’s military regime to democracy. Moving forward, it will also be interesting to see the role played by the regional and international community in guiding Guinea’s military regime to democracy. In this process, it is important for regional blocs such as ECOWAS and AU to not isolate the coup leaders and the rest of the Guinean security and political segments, but instead include them in open dialogues to find a suitable solution for the country. At the same time, these organizations should not neglect using various political instruments to ensure that the coup leaders are held accountable for potential ill-fated behaviours. What happens in Guinea the coming years will dictate the real image and intention of Col. Mamady Doumbouya’s for the future of Guinea and its people. Till then, hope is what remains for the Guinean population.
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Regime Change
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Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 crash
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Corporate Airlines Flight 5966 was a scheduled passenger flight from St. Louis, Missouri to Kirksville, Missouri. On October 19, 2004, the Jetstream 32 operating the flight crashed on approach to Kirksville Regional Airport due to pilot error. Thirteen people were killed. Flight 5966 was a flight route from St. Louis Lambert International Airport in St. Louis, Missouri, United States to Kirksville Regional Airport in unincorporated Adair County, Missouri, near the city of Kirksville. Corporate Airlines (later RegionsAir, now defunct) flew the route as part of the AmericanConnection network, an affiliate of American Airlines. [3]
The captain was 48-year-old Kim William Sasse, a former flight instructor who had been with Corporate Airlines since 2001. He had logged 4,234 flight hours, including 2,510 hours on the Jetstream 32. [1]:8–10[4] The first officer was 29-year-old Jonathan Palmer, also a former flight instructor. Palmer had been hired by Corporate Airlines only three months before the accident and had 2,856 flight hours, though only 107 of them were on the Jetstream 32. [1]:10–12[5]
On October 19, 2004, the Jetstream 32 twin-engine turboprop flying the route crashed on the approach to Kirksville Airport. The crash killed both pilots and 11 of the 13 passengers aboard. The two surviving passengers were seriously injured. [1]:5,15[6]
Some of the 13 passengers were doctors from other states who had been due to attend a seminar at the A. T. Still University. These included Steven Z. Miller, who was killed in the crash. Dr. Miller was director of pediatric emergency medicine at New York-Presbyterian Hospital, a prominent figure in "humanism in medicine" movement. [7][8]
The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that the probable cause of the accident was:
"the pilots' failure to follow established procedures and properly conduct a non-precision instrument approach at night in instrument meteorological conditions, including their descent below the minimum descent altitude before required visual cues were available (which continued un-moderated until the airplane struck the trees) and their failure to adhere to the established division of duties between the flying and non-flying (monitoring) pilot." The NTSB analysis of the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR) suggests that both pilots were looking outside the cockpit for visual cues to the location of the airport and failed to realize how low they had descended below the minimum descent altitude. The report further states:
Contributing to the accident were the pilots' failure to make standard callouts and the current Federal Aviation Regulations that allow pilots to descend below the minimum descent altitude into a region in which safe obstacle clearance is not assured based upon seeing only the airport approach lights. The pilots' failure to establish and maintain a professional demeanor during the flight and their fatigue likely contributed to their degraded performance. [1]
The television series Aircrash Confidential featured the incident in the third episode of Season 2, titled Pilot Fatigue. [9]
This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Transportation Safety Board.
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Air crash
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China Halts Australia Economic Dialogue in New Retaliation
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(Bloomberg) -- China announced that it was suspending a ministerial economic dialogue with Australia, in a largely symbolic move showing Beijing’s growing frustration with Canberra.
China will indefinitely halt all activities under the China-Australia Strategic Economic Dialogue, the National Development and Reform Commission said in a statement Thursday. While the two sides have held three rounds of talks under the mechanism since 2014, it hasn’t convened since September 2017.
“It is disappointing to hear that the NDRC has made this decision,” Australian Trade Minister Dan Tehan said in a statement, calling the dialogue an “important forum” to work through economic issues. “We remain open to holding the dialogue and engaging at the ministerial level.”
The Australian dollar pared earlier losses, and was down 0.2% at 77.34 U.S. cents at 3:38 p.m. in Sydney.
Relations between the two sides have been deteriorating for years and have plumbed new lows over the past year as China blocked or tariffed a series of imports from Australia after Canberra sought a probe into the origins of the coronavirus pandemic. Australia decided last month to cancel agreements between China’s Belt and Road Initiative and Victoria state and is also reviewing whether to force a Chinese company to sell a lease to a strategically important port used by the Australian and U.S. militaries.
The last formal bilateral ministerial meeting was in January 2019 when then-Defense Minister Chris Pyne visited Beijing, although the two nation’s foreign ministers have talked since then on the sidelines of at least one international meeting.
The NDRC blamed Australia for the downturn in relations, accusing “some Australian government officials” of working to “disrupt the normal exchanges and cooperation between China and Australia out of Cold War mindset and ideological discrimination.”
The unraveling of the relationship has come as China’s dominance of Australian trade increases, with the proportion of Australian exports to China surging to 43% by the end of 2020.
The key factor behind that has been the relentless rise in the price of iron ore, with China’s early emergence from Covid-19 spurring demand for the steelmaking ingredient. Major producers have struggled to keep pace with the huge demand from Chinese steel mills, pushing the price to $193 a ton in April, just shy of its 2010 record. Some analysts even see it crashing through the $200 barrier.
China‘s reprisals at Australia have hit a range of other commodities including coal, beef, barley and lobster. China was the top buyer of Australian wine before China imposed tariffs, buying close to A$1 billion ($772 million) worth of wine in 2019 and accounting for 40% of exports.
The duties imposed in November 2020 effectively shut access to the market, though strong European sales helped counter the slump. Coal, barley and wood have also managed to diversify into other markets.
The key danger ahead for Australia’s economy relates to international education and tourism, which are currently frozen due to international border restrictions. China accounted for 37% of Australia’s A$10 billion-a-year foreign student market and Chinese tourists spent A$12.4 billion in the country 2019, accounting for 15% of arrivals.
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Tear Up Agreement
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1975 Żabbar Avro Vulcan crash
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The 1975 Żabbar Avro Vulcan crash was a military aviation accident that occurred in Malta on 14 October 1975 when an Avro Vulcan B.2 bomber crashed after an aborted landing at RAF Luqa. The aircraft crashed in a residential area in Żabbar, and five crew members and one civilian on the ground were killed. The two pilots managed to eject and survived the accident. The crash caused extensive damage to many buildings in Żabbar. An investigation of the accident cited pilot error as the primary cause. XM645 was an Avro Vulcan B.2 bomber which had been completed in March 1964. [1]
On 14 October 1975, the aircraft was flying from RAF Waddington in England to RAF Luqa in Malta. [2] The pilot was Flight Lieutenant G. R. Alcock, and the co-pilot was Flying Officer E. G. Alexander, and five other crew members were also on board. [2] Alcock allowed Alexander to carry out the final approach, but the latter was not adequately briefed with the problems that arose when landing on a short, sloping runway like that at Luqa. [2]
With Alexander piloting the aircraft, it made a hard landing at Luqa and undershot the runway, shearing off its undercarriage. [3] According to an eyewitness, the aircraft then became airborne and touched down again about 600 feet (180 m) from where it first landed. [2] By this point, captain Alcock had taken over control of the aircraft, and he decided to climb again and attempt another landing. [2]
Fire broke out in the starboard wing as a fuel tank had been pierced by the initial impact. [3] Before the aircraft managed to return to the airport, the crew realised that it was too late and the pilot and co-pilot ejected. [2] The aircraft then exploded in mid-air, killing the remaining five crew members on board, who did not have time to escape the aircraft by bailing out through a crew door. [2]
Debris including the aircraft's fuel tanks landed in the main street of Żabbar and exploded upon impact. [2] A woman who was walking in the street was killed,[2] while about 20 other people on the ground were injured, some seriously. [2] There was extensive property damage, with over 100 houses and shops and some cars being damaged. [2]
Firefighters took hours to put out the fires caused by the crash. [2]
An inquiry was held after the crash, and it concluded that it was "an avoidable accident in which a serviceable aircraft was flown into the ground killing all rear crew members. "[3] The report criticized captain Alcock for allowing co-pilot Alexander to carry out the final approach without adequately briefing him, and found his handling of the aircraft as negligent. [3]
One of the houses which was seriously damaged was rebuilt at the expense of the RAF, and it was later renamed Vulcan. [2]
Since the aircraft crashed in a residential area and caused severe damage, the human casualties on the ground could have been much worse. [2] Some interpreted this as a miracle. [2]
The Żabbar Sanctuary Museum contains a small exhibition relating to the accident. [4]
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Air crash
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Marijuana poisoning on the rise in New Mexico
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Updated: May 28, 2021 07:16 AM
Created: May 27, 2021 05:49 PM
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M.- From 2014 through 2016, the New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center averaged about 70 calls of people consuming too much marijuana.
Those numbers doubled from 2017 through 2019, and there were 168 calls in 2020.
What's behind the increase? Dr. Susan Smolinske, director of the New Mexico Poison and Drug Information Center, said it's a combination of availability and acceptability by the public.
"We're trying to look at our data more closely, we think that our double jump occurred when Colorado legalized recreational marijuana, and we started to see more pediatric accidental exposures," explained Dr. Smolinske.
The spike includes kids consuming too much marijuana.
"These need to be treated as medications and kept out of reach and locked up away from the kids," urged Dr. Smolinske.
It's a growing concern as New Mexico legalized recreational marijuana.
"Our state, I know, is still working on the regulations involving recreational marijuana, and I know there's at least some preliminary idea that the edibles are not going to be packaged as attractively," explained Dr. Smolinske.
If an edible looks like a chocolate bar or bag of gummies, a kid could be enticed to eat it.
"We had four severe cases last year and children aged one to two who needed a ventilator," said Dr. Smolinske.
Adults need to be careful too.
"Just be aware that there's a lot of drug interactions, and sometimes those can, you know, raise the blood level of the other medications you're taking or sometimes lower and make it not effective," said Dr. Smolinske.
The best way to make sure that doesn't happen is to check with the Poison and Drug Information Center at 1-800-222-1222.
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Mass Poisoning
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RwandAir Flight 205 crash
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RwandAir Flight 205 was a Canadair CRJ-100 that crashed into the Terminal Building after an emergency landing at Kigali, Rwanda killing one passenger. [1] The flight was operated by JetLink Express on behalf of RwandAir. In the aftermath of the accident, RwandAir suspended all operations with JetLink Express. The flight took off from Kigali International Airport, shortly after which the pilots informed air traffic control that the Left Thrust lever had become jammed at the Takeoff Power setting. The pilots did not utilize the Thrust Lever Jammed Abnormal Checklist Procedure and instead immediately returned to the airport with the Right Thrust Lever (which was adjustable) at idle, landing shortly after 11:30am. The aircraft stopped short of the VIP Terminal Building, but lurched forward as the chocks were being put in place; the aircraft then crashed into the VIP terminal. [1] A fire followed the accident but was put out. The co-pilot was eventually freed from the wreckage three hours after the crash. [2] Of the 10 passengers and 5 crew, all survived the initial crash with injuries to 10 people on the aircraft and in the VIP terminal. One female passenger died shortly after arriving at a hospital. [3]
A RwandAir spokesperson said, "He landed safely on the runway and was guided by the marshals into the parking area. For some unexplained reason, the plane, from the parking spot, took off again at full power and ... took a right turn, unexplained, into the technical building. "[4] The METAR in force at the time of the accident was HRYR 121030Z VRB03KT 9999 BKN030 24/18 Q1018 NOSIG=. [5]
Post-flight investigation revealed the cable connecting the Left Thrust Lever to the engine assembly had severed shortly after application of Takeoff power. A procedure in the aircraft's Quick Reference Handbook (QRH) titled "Thrust Lever Jammed" would have directed the pilots to shut down the left engine by utilizing the Left Engine Fire push switch, which would have closed (among other things) the Fuel SOV (shutoff valve), thus allowing the speed of the aircraft to be better controlled while landing the aircraft. This QRH procedure would have been accomplished "at a safe altitude" per the procedure, while giving consideration to terrain or other obstacles. The pilots did not perform the above procedure, and instead, chose to immediately return to the airport, landing at a higher than normal airspeed due to the left engine still producing takeoff thrust, making it difficult to stop the aircraft and using much greater runway distance than normal. The aircraft was taxied back to the terminal with the left engine still producing takeoff power and the right engine at idle. When the aircraft was brought to a stop at the terminal building, the right engine was shut down by the pilots, the left engine was still operating at takeoff thrust, and the hydraulics were all turned "off", which was common procedure at the time. The aircraft disc brakes on the Canadair CRJ-100 are operated by two of the three hydraulic systems on the aircraft, with System 2 supplied by pumps on the right engine (both mechanical and electric) and System 3 being supplied by two electric pumps. By shutting off the right engine and all of the electric hydraulic systems, the brakes as well as the parking brake were no longer being powered. As the hydraulic pressure bled down and with the left engine still producing takeoff thrust, the aircraft jumped over the chocks, lurched to the right (caused by the left engine thrust), and hit the terminal building. [6] The left engine was eventually shut down by the airport crash tender spraying foam into the engine. The aircraft involved was a Canadair CRJ-100, registration 5Y-JLD, which first flew in 1997. [7]
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Air crash
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1877 Great Fire of Saint John, New Brunswick
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The Great Saint John Fire was an urban fire that devastated much of Saint John, New Brunswick in June 1877. It destroyed two-fifths of the city of Saint John. [1]
At 2:30 on the afternoon of June 20, 1877, a spark fell into a bundle of hay in Henry Fairweather's storehouse in the York Point Slip area. Nine hours later the fire had destroyed over 80 hectares (200 acres) and 1,612 structures including eight churches, six banks, fourteen hotels, eleven schooners and four wood boats. The fire had killed approximately 19 people, and injured many more. No photographs exist of the fire. [2] However, some survivors' accounts of the blaze tell that the fire came so close to the harbour that it looked like the water was on fire. Saint John's Trinity Royal Heritage Conservation Area was built out of the ashes of the fire. [3]
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Formation of Just Transition Maritime Task Force announced at COP26
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In what has been hailed as a landmark moment for maritime workers, the formation of a Just Transition Maritime Task Force has been agreed to drive decarbonisation of the industry and support millions of seafarers through shipping’s green transition. The task force will push forward shipping’s climate goals while protecting its workers and their communities, ensuring opportunity for all. It will focus on the development of new green skills and green and decent work, identifying best practice across the value chain and providing policy recommendations for an equitable transition – with a specific focus on developing economies. The task force was agreed during high-level discussions at COP26 between the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS), representing shipowners, the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), representing seafarers and port workers, and the United Nations Global Compact, the world’s largest corporate sustainability initiative. Other influential UN bodies including the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO) will join the task force as formal partners. Guy Platten (pictured, right), secretary general of the ICS, said: “Many of our seafarers come from developing nations, who are witnessing first-hand the effects of climate change. We must ensure they are given the green skills they need to keep global trade moving, and that developing nations can have access to the technologies and infrastructure to be part of shipping’s green transition.” Steve Cotton (pictured, left), ITF General Secretary, said: “This task force will give international shipping the opportunity to lead the transformation of transport. We welcome the commitment from all partners, from industry and the UN agencies, to tackle this challenge collaboratively with workers and their unions.” A meeting is expected to take place in December to begin setting up the practical next steps for the Just Transition Task Force.
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Organization Established
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Police reform, banning assault weapons, looking beyond COVID-19: Takeaways from Joe Biden's address to Congress
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WASHINGTON – In his first address to a joint session of Congress, President Joe Biden both looked back on his first 100 days in office and laid out a vision for the future of his administration, from talking about increasing taxes on the rich, to urging Congress to take action on gun violence and police reform.
"I can report to the nation: America is on the move again. Turning peril into possibility. Crisis into opportunity. Setback into strength. Life can knock us down," Biden said. "But in America, we never stay down."
The president focused on goals he achieved during his first 100 days in office, a milestone he will pass on Friday. The benchmark, while arbitrary, has been a standard by which presidents have held themselves accountable for delivering on policy priorities since Franklin D. Roosevelt first coined the phrase.
Here are some of the top takeaways from Biden’s address Wednesday:
The week after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin was convicted of the murder of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man whose death sparked waves of protest against racism and police brutality across the nation, Biden pushed for police reform.
He urged Congress to pass the George Floyd Justice in Policing Act, which aims to bolster police accountability and ban certain maneuvers that have led to the deaths of Black Americans.
“Let’s get it done next month, by the first anniversary of George Floyd’s death,” Biden said. Floyd died after Chauvin knelt on his neck for more than nine minutes on May 25, 2020.
To applause, Biden said he believes the vast majority of law enforcement officials are good people who “serve their communities honorably,” but said systemic racism in the criminal justice system needs to be addressed.
He recalled speaking with Floyd’s young daughter Gianna after his death.
“As I knelt down to talk to her so we could talk eye to eye, she said to me, ‘Daddy changed the world,’” he said. “After the conviction of George Floyd’s murderer, we can see how right she was – if – if we have the courage to act.”
For the first time in history, two women stood behind the president as he delivered a joint address to Congress. Vice President Kamala Harris, the first woman to be elected to that position, stood alongside Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, the first woman elected as speaker in 2007.
“Madam speaker, madam vice president,” Biden said when he arrived at the podium. “No president has ever said those words from this podium, and it’s about time.”
The two women greeted each other with an elbow bump when they arrived, a standard greeting during the coronavirus pandemic. They each wore a mask during Biden’s address.
Women serving in Congress told USA TODAY that having Harris and Pelosi in those seats is a historic moment and an important example of representation of women in leadership roles.
"It’s critical that girls across the country see women at the highest levels of government and know that they too can serve as vice president and speaker of the House," said Republican Sen. Cynthia Lummis, the first woman from Wyoming elected to the Senate.
Biden pressed lawmakers to take urgent action on gun violence in the country, which he called an “epidemic,” in the wake of multiple deadly shootings this year. He asked Congress to reinstate a ban on assault weapons and high-capacity magazines, recalling his efforts to do so in 1994 as a senator from Delaware.
He called for the passage of two House bills, aimed at strengthening background checks on gun purchases, that don’t have enough support from Republicans in the Senate to pass in the evenly divided chamber.
He also urged the reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act aimed at reducing domestic and sexual violence. The law includes a provision preventing people convicted of abusing dating partners from buying or owning guns.
“It’s estimated that more than 50 women are shot and killed by an intimate partner – every month in America,” Biden said. “Pass it and save lives.”
The president recognized the victims of recent mass shootings, and promised that he would do everything in his power to “protect the American people from this epidemic of gun violence.” He urged Republicans and Democrats to work together on passing gun control legislation.
“Our flag at the White House was still flying at half staff for the eight victims of the mass shooting in Georgia when 10 more lives were taken in a mass shooting in Colorado,” Biden said. “In the week between those mass shootings, more than 250 other Americans were shot dead.”
Biden urged Congress to raise taxes on the rich and corporations, saying they need to pay their fair share.
“I’m not looking to punish anyone,” he said. “What I’ve proposed is fair. It’s fiscally responsible.”
In his plea to lawmakers, Biden has said that raising the taxes on the wealthy would pay for his $1.8 trillion American Families Plan, a sweeping package that includes paid family leave, free community college, subsidized child care and other proposals to expand the nation’s social safety net.
Biden again said that he would not raise taxes on anyone making less than $400,000 a year.
“They’re already paying enough,” he said.
Immigration has shrouded Biden’s first 100 days, as his administration has struggled to deal with a dramatic increase of migrant children, families and single adults at the U.S.-Mexico border.
But the president didn’t focus on the border challenges his administration faced Wednesday night. Instead, he focused on urging Congress to pass his comprehensive immigration legislation, which would create a pathway to citizenship for the nearly 11 million people living in the United States without citizenship.
“If you actually want to solve the problem – I have sent you a bill, take a close look at it,” Biden said of his immigration bill.
Biden also noted that if Congress doesn’t pass his bill, he would like to see them pass some sort of immigration legislation that would create a pathway for at least Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program recipients, farmworkers and protections for those with temporary protected status.
“The country supports immigration reform. Let’s act," Biden said
Biden also highlighted the vice president's role in addressing the root causes of why migrants from Central America are coming to the United States.
“We also have to get at the root of the problem of why people are fleeing to our southern border from Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador,” Biden said, adding that they restarted a program that would give aid to the Northern Triangle countries of Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador. “When I was vice president, I focused on providing the help needed to address these root causes of migration. It helped keep people in their own countries instead of being forced to leave.”
Biden celebrated his administration passing its goal of delivering 200 million COVID-19 vaccines in his first 100 days in office, calling the ongoing vaccination effort one of the greatest "logistical achievements this country has ever seen. He urged all Americans to get a vaccine, noting everyone over the age of 16 is now eligible to receive one.
“Go get vaccinated, America, go and get the vaccination. They’re available,” he said.
Biden said that over 90% of Americans now live within 5 miles of a vaccination site.
More:Biden blazed past his vaccine target for the first 100 days. Does the Trump administration deserve credit too?
He took credit for the increase in the availability of vaccines and the vaccinations given to the most vulnerable, noting that 1% of seniors had been vaccinated when he took office and now over 70% are “fully protected.”
“Senior deaths from COVID-19 are down 80% since January,” he said, adding that over half of all American adults have received at least one dose.
The coronavirus pandemic has infected more than 32 million and caused the deaths of nearly 575,000 people in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins.
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Famous Person - Give a speech
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Brexit Fallout Could ‘Collapse’ the Good Friday Agreement
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From the Islamic Revolution in Tehran to fuzzy animals playing counterinsurgents, these board and video games are inspired by foreign relations.
A roundup of some of our favorite reads this year.
Globe-trotting diversions from us to you.
By focusing on an external enemy, the Law and Justice Party is trying to transform its image in Brussels and beyond.
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Robbie Gramer, Amy Mackinnon Ireland’s top diplomat warned that the lingering dispute between the United Kingdom and the European Union over post-Brexit border arrangements could lead to the “collapse” of institutions around a two-decade-old Northern Irish peace agreement if the two sides cannot break the impasse.
“The real threat here is the collapse of the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement, which would be very, very problematic,” said Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister, referring to the 1998 peace deal that ended a decadeslong war over Northern Ireland’s status as part of the United Kingdom.
“It means no government in Northern Ireland functioning as it should, it means damage to the east-west relationship between Dublin and London,” said Coveney, who spoke to reporters during a visit to Washington. Coveney emphasized that tensions over post-Brexit arrangements likely wouldn’t lead to a renewed surge in violence, however.
Ireland’s top diplomat warned that the lingering dispute between the United Kingdom and the European Union over post-Brexit border arrangements could lead to the “collapse” of institutions around a two-decade-old Northern Irish peace agreement if the two sides cannot break the impasse.
“The real threat here is the collapse of the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement, which would be very, very problematic,” said Simon Coveney, Ireland’s foreign minister, referring to the 1998 peace deal that ended a decadeslong war over Northern Ireland’s status as part of the United Kingdom.
“It means no government in Northern Ireland functioning as it should, it means damage to the east-west relationship between Dublin and London,” said Coveney, who spoke to reporters during a visit to Washington. Coveney emphasized that tensions over post-Brexit arrangements likely wouldn’t lead to a renewed surge in violence, however.
“It’s important not to talk up the possibility of violence. I think Ireland is in a very different space now to where it was two or three decades ago. I don’t think there’s likely to be wholesale violence in Northern Ireland,” he said. “Having said that, whether tensions around the protocol can result in the collapse of the institutions of the Good Friday Agreement, that is a very real threat.”
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Coveney was visiting Washington after meetings in New York for the United Nations General Assembly. Ireland, which holds the rotating chairmanship for the U.N. Security Council this month, has played an outsized diplomatic role in chairing high-level U.N. meetings on climate security and the Middle East.
The United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union created a raft of legal and jurisdictional headaches for policymakers in Brussels and London as they tried to unspool decades of economic, trade, and legal integration. Ireland remains in the EU, while the United Kingdom, including Northern Ireland (which voted against Brexit), does not. That has led to fierce debates about how the EU could effectively manage a “soft border” with Northern Ireland.
Under the terms of the protocol agreed to after the United Kingdom left the EU, Northern Ireland will effectively remain part of the European Union’s single market when it comes to trade, following the bloc’s rules on agriculture and produce, with customs inspections instead taking place before goods reach Northern Ireland from the rest of the U.K. The deal was intended to prevent the need for a hard border on the island of Ireland, which many feared could inflame tensions in Northern Ireland, where sectarian conflict raged for about three decades during the latter half of the 20th century.
The United States, which helped broker the so-called Good Friday Agreement in 1998 that effectively ended the era of violence, has warned that post-Brexit disputes could undercut two decades of peace in the region. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, on a visit to London last week in which she met British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, told a think tank audience that any threat to peace in Northern Ireland would make the prospect of a U.S.-U.K. trade deal “very unlikely.” U.S. President Joe Biden has made similar warnings since the campaign trail.
The protocol came into effect at the beginning of January but has been waylaid by, of all things, the “sausage war.”
The EU does not allow chilled meats to be shipped into the bloc, meaning that Northern Ireland could be deprived of its British bangers. A grace period was put in place, but the U.K. government has now said that it wants to reduce the amount of checks imposed on its products before they are shipped into the EU’s single market, prompting a standoff with Brussels.
Read More
Loyalist fears that Boris Johnson is abandoning them have sparked a wave of violence that could endanger the Good Friday Agreement.
Coveney said EU-U.K. talks over the matter are ongoing. “Where the discussion is at right now is the European Commission is looking at ways in which they can reduce what is seen as the burden of the protocol on Northern Ireland, for Northern Ireland, while at the same time absolutely not compromising on the need to protect the integrity” of EU borders.
Johnson also visited Washington this week, between meetings at the U.N. General Assembly in New York, and discussed the matter with Biden. Biden warned Johnson not to let the standoff over trade imperil the peace in Northern Ireland that followed the signing of the Good Friday Agreement in 1998. “On the protocols, I feel very strongly about those,” Biden said. “We spent an enormous amount of time and effort in the United States. It was a major bipartisan effort made. And I—I would not at all like to see—nor, I might add, would many of my Republican colleagues like to see—a change in the Irish accords that—the end result having a closed border again.”
British leaders have suggested that Biden just doesn’t get it. Speaking to Britain’s Sky News on Wednesday, U.K. Environment Minister George Eustice said that Biden didn’t “fully appreciate” the nuances of the Northern Ireland protocol, noting that the arrangement was “very complicated.”
Coveney and others beg to differ. “Let’s just be clear, the understanding in Washington on what’s happened here is not in question. And anybody who questions it essentially is trying to create a distraction from the real discussions,” he said.
Anne Anderson, who served as Ireland’s ambassador to the United States during the Obama administration, told Foreign Policy after the U.S. elections last year that Biden “knows these issues backward,” adding, “we don’t need to educate him in any way about the Good Friday Agreement and its importance to the north-south relationship on the island.”
FP’s Colm Quinn contributed to this report. Robbie Gramer is a diplomacy and national security reporter at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @RobbieGramer
Amy Mackinnon is a national security and intelligence reporter at Foreign Policy. Twitter: @ak_mack
Commenting on this and other recent articles is just one benefit of a Foreign Policy subscription.
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Diplomatic Visit
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2017 Mexican protests
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The 2017 Mexican protests were a series of protests against a hike in the price of gasoline by the Mexican government which came into effect on 1 January 2017. Thousands of protestors marched, blocked highways and shut down state-owned gas stations. The rise in price—known in Mexico as the gasolinazo—was a result of president Enrique Peña Nieto's privatization of the Mexican oil industry. Other factors that led to the protests include high inflation, a weak peso, widespread violence due to the Mexican Drug War, and Peña Nieto's low approval rating and corruption allegations. On 26 December 2016, the Mexican government announced that gasoline prices would rise by up to 20% in January as result of the transition towards eliminating price controls. Beginning with the Mexican oil expropriation in 1938, the government controlled the country's entire petroleum industry, including both production and retail sales. The state-owned company, Pemex, held a monopoly on all gasoline sales in the country, and prices were set by the government. In 2013, the newly elected President Enrique Peña Nieto began the process of privatizing Mexico's oil industry, which would eventually allow private companies to establish their own gas stations. [1]
The Mexican government planned to transition to market prices gradually throughout 2017. Finance Minister José Antonio Meade explained that the price hike was "an important change," which would "allow prices to reflect costs, and avoid artificial distortions. "[1] The rise in gasoline prices was also a result of the government ending subsidies to the oil industry[2] and may have been motivated by projected budget deficits because of the Mexican peso's weakening value relative to the US dollar. [3]
The price hike, scheduled to begin on 1 January 2017, coincided with an economy marked by high inflation in addition to the weak peso. Donald Trump's recent election as president of the United States led to uncertainty, as he had campaigned on strong economic protectionism. [4] Furthermore, Peña Nieto was experiencing historically-low approval ratings and was involved in numerous scandals. [4][5]
Tensions in Mexico were also raised by the high homicide rates associated with the continued Mexican Drug War, which had begun over ten years earlier. [2]
Protests began on 1 January, the same day the new prices took effect. Activists used social media to organize protests and shut down gas stations throughout the country. Protestors also blockaded major highways and border crossings. Their demands included cheaper gasoline prices as well as the resignation of president Peña Nieto. [3]
Protests and riots took place all over the country. Demonstrations in Tijuana and Nogales forced authorities to temporarily close Mexico–United States border crossings. In Rosarito, a man intentionally drove his vehicle into federal police officers. Looting was reported in Veracruz. [2] In Tabasco, a convenience store was ransacked and burned. [3] Mexico City had two large demonstrations in early January, with thousands of protestors in attendance. [2]
Over 250 stores were looted during the protests. [5] At least one police officer was killed while trying to prevent looting. [3] At least four deaths have been attributed to the protests, as well as 1,500 arrests. [4]
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We’re Replicating the Mistakes of 2008
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As the government rushes to aid the economy, how that’s done, who benefits, and who is left behind matter. So far, the signs are ominous. About the author: Jesse Eisinger is a senior reporter at ProPublica. This article is a collaboration between The Atlantic and ProPublica. In 2008, the first of the once-in-a-lifetime economic calamities of most of our lifetimes engulfed the country and the world. Now, just over a decade later, we get to experience the second. How well the country responded to the 2008 global financial crisis is still subject to debate. After the crisis peaked in September 2008 and the government intervened with various bailout programs, the financial system and corporate America stabilized. Corporate profits were rising again by the second half of 2009. Almost everything else is in dispute. Did the efforts to save the economy do enough to help average Americans? The global financial crisis of 2008 threw millions out of their home and jobs. The Obama administration designed programs to help people stay in their home, but they were spectacular disappointments. The median household income stayed below where it was in 2007 (and in 2000) until 2016. But at least the Great Recession taught the country two broad-brush lessons: Bailouts should help working Americans, and the financial system should be made more resilient to shocks. Or so we thought. Still in the early stages of the pandemic economic fallout, we are already replicating many of the same mistakes from 2008. True, the two crises have striking differences. The previous global panic arose thanks to the financial system’s lending recklessness and, in some cases, deception and fraud. Here, something akin to a natural disaster has swallowed lives and the economy with it. But the rescue and recovery imperatives are the same. As the government rushes to aid the economy, how that’s done, who benefits, and who is left behind matter. So far, the signs are ominous. The “bailout is going to repeat a lot of mistakes of the 2008 interventions,” said Amanda Fischer, the policy director for the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, a left-leaning economic think tank. After those rescue efforts, “Corporate America’s profits bounced back quickly, but most working people have not seen their conditions improve.” Just as the two crises are not the same, neither are the rescues. This time around, help for working Americans is more of a priority. The marquee provision of the multitrillion-dollar CARES Act, passed by Congress late last month, is the expansion of unemployment insurance and direct payments to citizens. If those go out quickly (and there are already concerns about that), that will be helpful. But the package also bolsters corporations, mainly through $500 billion from taxpayers. In the 2008 version of this aid, the Troubled Asset Relief Program, banks were asked politely to expand lending with their taxpayer largesse. They did not—and the same thing could happen again. Restrictions attached to the money going to small- and medium-size businesses are spelled out clearly. Funds should be used to help companies retain more of their workforce. Companies cannot pay out dividends or buy back stock. Companies must honor collective-bargaining agreements and stay neutral during union drives. They can’t outsource or ship jobs offshore. But the enforcement mechanism is weak. The Treasury secretary “shall endeavor” to implement these aspects of the program, the law says. The companies need to produce a “good faith certification” that they have adhered to these conditions. The real problems lie with the aid to large corporations. Most of the $454 billion earmarked for this program will go to them (another portion of loans and grants are earmarked for airlines and Boeing). Though the law contains some language for these giant corporations to prevent buybacks, preclude dividends, and set limits on executive compensation, no employee protections are spelled out. And the executive compensation limits are set at last year’s levels—not exactly the stuff of great sacrifice during a spectacular economic cratering. For every condition, there’s a loophole. The Treasury secretary can waive any of the Big Business conditions if, as the law states, it is necessary to “protect the interests of the federal government.” What that means will be up to Steve Mnuchin, a reliable friend of Wall Street and Big Business. (The Treasury Department did not respond to a request seeking comment.) What’s more, the key aspect of the lending program is that the Federal Reserve will lend to corporations to borrow on top of the government’s contribution, up to 10 times. Anything from the Fed that isn’t a “direct loan” to a company is not subject to the restrictions attached to the Treasury money. In addition to the squishy language that gives flexibility to Mnuchin, the oversight lacks teeth. The law does set up a congressional-oversight panel to monitor the program, but this provision, too, replicates a problem with the 2008 bailout. Last time around, Congress created the Congressional Oversight Panel, but it didn’t have much in the way of power beyond that of the bully pulpit. Elizabeth Warren, then a private citizen who served as the chair, turned that into a powerful cudgel to point out the lack of banker accountability and the failure to help homeowners. But the panel’s work did not substantially affect the course of the bailout or correct its flaws. Here again, the new body, the Congressional Oversight Commission, has few weapons. It does not have subpoena power, it has no independent enforcement authority, and it cannot police compliance with the worker-aid conditions of the law. As in 2008, there’s an oversight board and a special inspector general. But last time, Neil Barofsky, a gritty and independent former prosecutor had that special appointment; this time, a loyal White House soldier is in line for the pandemic IG job. Another hallmark of the 2008 bailout was needlessly complex programs with the wrong incentive structures. As ProPublica chronicled in story after story, the government programs to help people get mortgage relief were plagued by ongoing chaos, lax enforcement, and outright failure. The biggest banks could not handle the demand and did not have the proper financial incentives to actually give people loan relief. We are seeing early signs that the small-business program, called the Paycheck Protection Program, administered through the Small Business Administration, may suffer similar problems. It’s a complex program offered through banks. One concern is that banks stand to make billions in fees (on top of the interest), money that could be used to help businesses. What’s more, the banks may struggle to dispense loans quickly and efficiently. In addition to repeating failures in how we send out the lifeboats and to whom, we also failed during the calm before the inevitable storm. After the financial crisis, the government started conducting the annual “stress tests” of the largest financial institutions, subjecting them to pretend crashes to gauge whether they could withstand crises. But it’s turning out that the stress tests were inadequate. They did not predict anything close to what’s happening now. Take just one portion of the stress tests. The “severely adverse scenario” for the Fed’s 2020 stress tests had unemployment rising from 3.5%, where it was in early 2020, to a peak of 10% a year and a half later. Now that rise is going to happen in a matter of weeks — and will probably be much more dire. Sure, almost no one predicted a cataclysm happening this deep, this fast. Stephen Cecchetti, a former banking regulator who is now an economist at Brandeis University, recalled working with a risk-officer colleague who had taken on the role of thinking about all the bad things that could happen to the financial system. “He was very good at this nightmare business and even he would not have had this nightmare,” he said. The scenarios he envisioned weren’t anywhere near pessimistic enough, according to Cecchetti. The Fed suffered a similar failure of imagination. Its stress tests were similar every year. Unemployment went up, but over several quarters. Economic growth went down but then went up. Some regulators called for testing a much wider range of scenarios. Pandemics are not unknown. Nor is war. How about crippling cyberattacks or assaults on the electrical grid that shut down growth for a month? The Fed doesn’t subject banks to any of those scenarios. Nor does the central bank test against more modest, but still unusual, recessions, such as one where growth and unemployment drop but then do not rebound for a long time. “We are very, very ready for a standard deep recession,” said a person who helped design the stress tests and who had urged his colleagues to be more imaginative. (This person and sources quoted below were granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak on the record.) “We are not ready for much of anything else.” Now “anything else” is upon us. And just as in the acute phase of the 2008 crisis, the government doesn’t understand the urgency of making the banking system stronger. The U.S. government has not mandated a suspension of dividends, stock buybacks, or bonuses for all financial institutions, despite former Federal Reserve officials’ calling for such a move. Europe is already implementing a variety of these measures. Making banks keep capital right now is smart because a true financial crisis, if not upon us right now, is likely to come, especially the longer the economic downturn lasts. Annie Lowrey: This is not a recession. It’s an Ice Age. In still another echo of 2008, regulators spent the period before this crisis easing up on the reforms implemented after the last crisis. Led by Randal Quarles, a Trump appointee on the Federal Reserve Board, regulators loosened numerous bank rules in the past couple of years. They also allowed banks and financial players to load up vulnerable companies with risky debt. (In recent weeks, amid capital-market wobbles, bank regulators have eased a variety of regulations even more.) Relaxing financial regulations in the past few years did not cause this economic crisis. And so far, large American banks are not suffering nearly as badly as they did in 2008. But these rollbacks could make the system more vulnerable in the coming months than it should be. Trump regulators “seemed to have an almost willful ignorance about the causes of the last crisis that will make the situation we are in that much more precarious,” said one person involved in the reform efforts and who fought the rollbacks. “The crisis in the markets is just beginning and [the easing of the regulations] will exacerbate the economic pain we are feeling as a result of the coronavirus.” The design of the rescue package has left those who watched and studied 2008 deeply frustrated. “I do not have a good explanation of how we continue to fumble this. I was thinking when this started, ‘At least we have 2008 to guide us to not make the same mistakes,’” said a Hill staffer familiar with the CARES Act. “This will paper over bank balance-sheet problems, help tech valuations and boost leveraged loans. In three months, I think the stock market will look good. But the vast majority of workers will be worse off. The law will amplify inequality and the power of large corporations over labor and the workforce, and they won’t be able to recover for a generation.”
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Financial Crisis
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1968 Dasht-e Bayaz and Ferdows earthquakes
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The Dasht-e Bayaz and Ferdows earthquakes occurred in Dashte Bayaz, Kakhk and Ferdows, Iran in late August and early September 1968. The mainshock measured 7.4 on the moment magnitude scale and had a maximum perceived intensity of X (Extreme) on the Mercalli intensity scale. Damage was heavy in the affected areas with thousands of lives lost in the first event and many hundreds more in the second strong event. The Iranian plateau is confined by the Turan platform in the north and the Zagros fold and thrust belt and Makran Trench in the south. The Arabian Plate is converging to the north with the Eurasian Plate at a rate of 35 millimeters (1.4 in) per year, and is diffused across a 1,000 km (620 mi) zone resulting in continental shortening and thickening throughout the plateau, with strike-slip and reverse faulting present, as well as subduction at the Makran coast. [5]
In eastern Iran, the shortening is accommodate by a combination of relatively short northwest–southeast trending reverse faults, long north–south trending right lateral strike-slip faults and shorter west–east trending left-lateral strike-slip faults. [2]
The first earthquake occurred on August 31, 1968, measuring 7.1 on the moment magnitude scale. The focal mechanism indicated strike-slip faulting and the observed 80 km surface rupture showed that this earthquake resulted from movement on the western part of the west–east trending left-lateral Dasht-e-Bayaz Fault. The greatest observed left-lateral coseismic offset was about 4.5 m, with 2 m being the average observed offset. [2]
The mainshock destroyed five villages in the Dasht-e Bayaz area, and at least half of the buildings in another six villages from Kakhk to Sarayan. A strong aftershock on September 1, measuring 6.4 on the moment magnitude scale, destroyed Ferdows. More than 175 villages were destroyed or damaged in this earthquake. This article about an earthquake in Asia is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. This Iran-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
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Earthquakes
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Qantas Flight To See This Week’s Supermoon Sold Out In Minutes
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When it comes to celestial events, it’s pretty tough to top a Super Blood Moon. That’s the unofficial name for a total lunar eclipse that takes place when the full moon is in its closest orbital position to Earth — making it appear larger and brighter than other full moons. Know what’s even cooler? How about this: Seeing the Super Blood Moon from 40,000 feet on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner airplane that “is ideal for moongazing”? Now, here comes the good news as well as the bad news. First the good news: Yes, there is such a flight — known as the Supermoon Scenic Flight — offered by Qantas. It departs from and lands in Sydney, Australia . Now for the bad news: All 100 seats on the three-hour flight were sold in less than three minutes. A Rare Occurrence May’s full moon will occur on Wednesday, May 26, at 7:14 a.m. EST. The moon’s orbit around Earth is elliptical, not circular. Although the distance between the moon and Earth varies throughout the month and even the year, the average distance is approximately 238,000 miles, a timeanddate.com article explains . Since the moon has an elliptical orbit, however, there are times when it is closer to Earth than others. The point on the Moon’s orbit when it is closest to Earth is called the perigee. When the moon is full when it reaches that point, it’s called a supermoon. Due to its location, a supermoon will appear about seven percent larger than any other month’s full moon, and it will be approximately 15 percent brighter than other full moons. Here’s the interesting part: A total lunar eclipse will also occur at 5:36 a.m. EST on May 26, so this will be a Super Blood Moon. The term Blood Moon isn’t scientific but instead refers to the moon’s reddish-orange appearance during a total lunar eclipse. “During the eclipse, the full moon goes into the dark inner shadow of Earth,” Michael Shanahan, the planetarium director at the Liberty Science Center in New Jersey, told The Today Show. “However, while our atmosphere blocks the shorter wavelengths such as blue light, it does allow the longer wavelengths of red light to pass through our atmosphere and continue on to the moon. So the moon often turns an eerie copper color during these total lunar eclipses.” A Once-In-A-Lifetime Flight Qantas’s Supermoon Scenic Flight promises to be a truly unique experience. The flight will take off from Sydney, and after passing over the scenic Sydney Harbour, will climb above any cloud cover and head east out over the Pacific Ocean, Qantas explains . Along the way, travelers can enjoy “cosmic cocktails and supermoon cakes.” More interestingly, astronomer Dr. Vanessa Moss will work with the pilots to design the optimal flight path over the Pacific Ocean and also join the flight “to provide insights into supermoons and all things space and astronomy,” Qantas explains. “We are very excited to now be doing a supermoon scenic flight and the 787 has the largest windows of any passenger aircraft, so it’s ideal for moon gazing,” Chief Customer Officer Stephanie Tully said. “We think this flight has great appeal for anyone with a passion for astronomy, science, space photography, aviation, or [who’s] just keen to do something a little ‘out of this world.’” That certainly appears to be the case. Fare for the flight began at $499 for economy and ranged up to $1,499 for business seating. Despite the price, tickets sold out in 2.5 minutes, a CNN article reports . After that, the airline created a waitlist, but that was quickly closed as well, according to Qantas . How To View The Super Blood Moon It won’t be nearly as exciting as seeing the Super Blood Moon from the luxury of a Boeing Dreamliner, but you can still see the total lunar eclipse — providing the skies are clear and you are in parts of the western U.S., western South America, Australia, or Southeast Asia. If so, you’ll be able to see the Super Blood Moon — when the supermoon is totally eclipsed — for about 14 minutes on May 26. The eclipse will begin at 4:47 a.m. EST. If you are east of the Mississippi River, the moon will be very low or even below the horizon during the eclipse, so it may not be visible.
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New wonders in nature
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Volendam New Year's fire
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The Volendam New Year's fire was a café fire in the Dutch town of Volendam during the 2000–2001 New Year's night. The fire began early on New Year's Day 2001 and caused the death of 14 young people. [1] There were in all 241 people admitted to hospital,[2] 200 of whom suffered serious burns. [1]
The fire took place in a building that housed three bars. On New Year's Eve the cafés were packed with more than 350 young people between 13 and 22 years of age[2] when a short blaze happened in the café De Hemel ("Heaven") which was located on the top floor[3] after a sparkler hit Christmas decorations that hung from the ceiling. [4] The temperature in the room reached 400 °C (752 °F). [2] There was great panic and the heat, lack of oxygen and people falling over each other made escaping extremely difficult. There also were bars in front of the windows and there were too few emergency exits, all of which contributed to the high number of injuries. [3]
The first report reached the Amsterdam ambulance service CPA at 00:38 local time on 1 January. The first fire engine arrived at 00:46 CET. [3] The Dutch Red Cross reported that the alarm was raised shortly after 00:30 local time and that it took 15 minutes for the first ambulances and medical teams to arrive. Mayor Frank IJsselmuiden claimed that the crowd had panicked because all but one of the emergency exits were blocked. [5]
The fire was investigated intensively by media and politicians. New rules were introduced for decorations in cafés, nightclubs and other venues. [6] The owner and managers of the building were indicted for culpability. [7] An inquiry showed the owner Jan Veerman had been negligent in providing escape routes as well as failing to inundate the Christmas decorations with a fire-resistant substance, and that there were too many people in the building at the time of the incident. The owner was convicted to a conditional prison sentence and community service. [8] As a result of the inquiry Mayor of Edam-Volendam Frank IJsselmuiden and alderman Wim Visscher resigned their positions. [9]
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Fire
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Putin signs bill withdrawing from nuclear arms treaty with the United States
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Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. Legal Statement. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper.
Fox News Flash top headlines for July 3 are here. Check out what's clicking on Foxnews.com
Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a bill Wednesday formalizing Russia’s withdrawal from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with the United States. The move follows Washington’s departure from the decades-old agreement that President Trump said Russia had been "violating for many years." The U.S. gave notice of its intention to withdraw from the pact in February, setting the stage for the treaty to terminate in six months unless Moscow returned to compliance. Moscow responded by suspending its own obligations under the treaty.
AT LEAST 14 SAILORS DEAD AFTER RUSSIAN SUB CATCHES FIRE DURING RESEARCH MISSION: OFFICIALS
The treaty signed by President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev banned both the United States and Russia from possessing, producing or test-flying any ground-launched cruise missile with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles.
The Trump administration has said Russia broke the deal by deploying Novator 9M729 land-based cruise missiles, whose range falls within the distance prohibited by the treaty. The U.S. reportedly discovered in 2012 that Russia was violating the treaty and informed some European allies, though not the entire NATO membership. Russian officials have repeatedly denied any breaches and have suggested the U.S. hasn't complied with the treaty by placing missiles in European bases.
President smiles as he raises Russian hacking.
The White House had no immediate comment on Russia's action Wednesday. In October, Trump claimed the agreement did little more than interfere with U.S. military development. “I don't know why President [Barack] Obama didn't negotiate or pull out,” the president said at a Nevada rally, before vowing: "we're not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons, and we’re not allowed to."
At the time, top Russian officials called Trump's remarks a "very dangerous" provocation that would lead to "full chaos."
TRUMP'S 'VERY DANGEROUS' DECISION TO ABANDON NUCLEAR ACCORD HAS 'MANKIND FACING FULL CHAOS,' RUSSIA SAYS
In February 2018, the Pentagon concluded that Russia was actively violating its arms treaty agreements. In October, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg concurred with Trump's assessment.
"After years of denials, Russia recently acknowledged the existence of a new missile system, called 9M729," Stoltenberg said at the time. “Russia has not provided any credible answers on this new missile. All allies agree that the most plausible assessment would be that Russia is in violation of the treaty.”
Stoltenberg tweeted last week: "I will chair a meeting of the #NATO-Russia Council in Brussels on [Friday] 5 July. This is part of our continued political dialogue, to address Ukraine, the #INFTreaty, and transparency & risk reduction.”
Intermediate-range weapons reach their targets quicker than intercontinental ballistic missiles raising the likelihood of a global nuclear conflict over a false launch warning. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The Kremlin has vowed that Russia will not be the first to deploy new intermediate-range missiles and warned the U.S. not to deploy missiles in Europe.
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Tear Up Agreement
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Bouchard recovering from shoulder surgery
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Eugenie Bouchard, the former World No 5 from Canada, continues to recover from surgery to repair the torn subscapularis in her right shoulder sustained in March, admitting recently that she was scared to undergo the procedure because she had never been under anaesthesia before. Everything is on track and is going well, but he [the doctor] wants me to strengthen my shoulder a little bit more before I get back on court. Everything is still on time, so I just need a few more weeks of intense PT and strengthening and then I can finally, five months later, get on the court. Eugenie Bouchard “Full Anaesthesia. I was so scared beforehand ‘cuz I’ve never been under,” Bouchard explained on Instagram. “But everything went perfectly. “However when I came to, after the procedure, I kinda freaked out and was super emotional lol. My mom took videos. I’ll have to show y’all one day. It’s too funny!” Bouchard, whose ranking has dropped to No 250 in the world, is looking to return to match play in Rome next year. “Hopefully Rome in May 2022!” she confirmed. “Last time I played Rome was 2016. Can you believe it?” Poised to have a good season in 2021 after reaching the final in Guadalajara Open in March, the 27-year old was forced to surrender to the shoulder injury she picked up during her first-round match there. After trying ‘every form of conservative treatment and rehab known to man’, Bouchard revealed three months later that she had elected to have arthroscopic surgery. In a separate post, Bouchard told her Instagram followers that she had received ‘good news’ regarding her recovery and all was well. “I saw the doctor last week and everything is on track and is going well, but he wants me to strengthen my shoulder a little bit more before I get back on court,” Bouchard said on Instagram in late October. “Everything is still on time, so I just need a few more weeks of intense PT and strengthening and then I can finally—five months later get on the court.” Bouchard has been using hydrotherapy sessions in her recovery programme. ”A glimpse into some of the hydrotherapy I’ve been doing for my shoulder,” she said. “Recreating movements in water activates more muscles! I’ve found it helpful, and such a good burn/workout.” Bouchard followed the US Open and said it was refreshing to see what Emma Raducanu and Leylah Fernandez did. “We were all in this narrative, saying ‘Tennis is so hard on the players’ minds, they can’t compete with the pressure, media are going too hard on those kids,’ and then you get Fernandez and Raducanu coming, all lights out, big eyes, so happy just to be out there, enjoying the moment, not thinking about the backstage, the business,” Bouchard told Tennis Majors. “They’re just playing the match and beating those players. “It’s so refreshing, and the contrast is massive between them and Naomi feeling like she needs a break and has no joy out there.” Genie Bouchard has used hydro therapy in her recovery from shoulder surgery Instagram Meanwhile, Bouchard has debuted New Balance x Bandier’s second collection in the company’s ‘Her Advantage’ campaign. “Her Advantage. The new @newbalance x @bandier collection, inspired by my love of fashion, and anchored in the idea that if you look good, you play good and feel even better,” she posted on social media. New Balance is collaborating with the leisure brand, Bandier, producing the new neutral-toned New Balance 327 sneakers. Sponsored by New Balance, Bouchard signed a multi-year contract with the athletic brand in 2020 after Nike dropped her in 2019. The latest New Balance x Bandier collection features a fun collaborative colour-way of the New Balance 327 kicks and a full apparel collection, with sweatpants, tank tops, long-sleeves and hoodies in the neutral-tone collection. Apart from New Balance, Bouchard is also endorsing brands like Nike, Coca-Cola, Yonex, Wilson, Babolat, and Head, which makes the Canadian one of the most recognisable players of the modern era. The face of New Balance's "Her Advantage' campaign Having burst onto the global scene as a 20-year-old when she reached the 2014 Wimbledon final, Bouchard was catapulted into stardom as the endorsement deals swarmed in and public interest heightened. Her ranking rose to No 5 in the world by the end of that year when she was voted the WTA’s most improved player in 2014. A fluke concussion after slipping on a wet floor at the US Open rendered her unable to compete in the fourth round, sparking a loss of form and confidence that spiralled her into decline. By 2017, Bouchard had returned to the ITF circuit, but she failed to dominate and rediscover her spark. Despite her lack of form, Bouchard remained an attractive and marketable athlete, and is one of only five active tennis players with more than two million followers on Instagram. She looked well on her way to regaining her form this year before having to have the shoulder surgery and, at 27, she could yet make a resurgence back to the top of the game. Genie Bouchard remains highly marketable despite her decline in form
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Famous Person - Recovered
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Military Coups in Africa at Highest Level Since End of Colonialism
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Attempted or successful coups in Africa are occurring more frequently as democratic states buckle under pressure from Covid-19 Fires were lit in the streets of Khartoum, Sudan, in late October as pro-democracy protesters rallied to reject a military coup of the country’s transitional government. Photo: Rasd Sudan Network/ESN/AFP via Getty Images By joe.parkinson@wsj.com Updated Nov. 4, 2021 5:31 am ET On the day before launching the coup that halted Sudan’s democratic transition last month , Gen. Abdel Fattah al-Burhan made a string of daring geopolitical moves. He reassured Jeffrey Feltman, the U.S. envoy to Sudan, that he didn’t intend to seize power. Then he boarded a jet to Egypt for secret talks to ensure his plot would have regional support. Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi, who seized power in a 2013 coup backed by Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, reassured his fellow general, according to three people familiar with the meeting.
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Regime Change
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New CDC report details 'novel' foods that have led to E. coli, salmonella outbreaks
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Some of the most worrisome novel vehicles include nuts, flour, sugar and spices, because these are foods you really can’t wash to get rid of bacteria. Sept. 22, 2021, 7:49 PM UTC By Linda Carroll We’re all aware that meats and certain veggies can turn out to be contaminated with some pretty nasty bacteria. But, a new, rather scary, report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention details a host of “novel” food vehicles that have led to outbreaks with pathogens such as E.coli and salmonella. Some of the most worrisome novel vehicles include flour, sugar and spices, because these are foods you really can’t wash to get rid of bacteria. Other foods on the list ranged from nuts, including cashews, pistachios and pine nuts, to various types of fish to fruits, such as blueberries, papayas, apples and pomegranates. A common theme among some of these novel outbreak-associated foods was being imported from another country.
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Disease Outbreaks
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Aeroflot Flight 498 crash
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Aeroflot Flight 498 was a Soviet domestic passenger flight from Severomuysk to Ulan-Ude that crashed near Lake Baikal on 14 June 1981 en route to its planned stop at Nizhneangarsk Airport, Nizhneangarsk. All 44 passengers—including 13 children—and 4 crew members on board were killed, and the aircraft was destroyed. It remains the deadliest crash involving an Ilyushin Il-14. [1]
CCCP-41838 was an Ilyushin Il-14M manufactured on 1 January 1957,[2] with 16,185 total air hours and 18,427 cycles. [1] The aircraft was equipped with engines registered as B B 29471633 252073177. At the time of the crash it was being operated by the East Siberia Civil Aviation Directorate of Ulan-Ude under Aeroflot. [2]
The crew consisted of pilot Alex T Mordovia, co-pilot Alexander Lobsonovich Kyrmygenov, and engineer Alexander Zharnikov. Aeroflot Flight 498 was originally scheduled to fly from Severomuysk to Baikal International Airport in Ulan-Ude, with a planned en-route stop at Nizhneangarsk Airport in Nizhneangarsk. [2] The flight had exceeded its takeoff weight capacity by 186 kilograms (410 lb). The aircraft left from Severomuysk at 09:41 MSK. [3]
Due to bad weather, Nizhneangarsk Airport closed, and the crew rerouted the aircraft to land at an airfield in nearby Ust-Barguzin. Mountains surrounding Lake Baikal were at that time obscured by the cloud cover, and visibility was only about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) with rain and winds of up to 5 metres per second (11 mph). Foggy conditions and low visibility were likewise reported on Holy Nose Peninsula, what would later become the aircraft's crash site. [2] At 10:30 MSK, almost an hour after takeoff, the crew reported a nearby flight, and at 10:41 began communications with the air tower at Ulan-Barguzin in preparation for landing. Conditions around the Ust-Barguzin airfield were slightly more favorable than had been projected at the aircraft's height. At 11:02 the aircraft called in to report their location, but in violation of air rules, the crew instead called the air control tower at Ulan-Ude and did not report back to Ust-Barguzin. Additionally, they did not report their location or weather conditions. [3] The aircraft's data finder, ARP-6, was found to be unstable, about which the Ust-Barguzin air tower warned Flight 498 well in advance. [2] Due to the faulty equipment, the flight deviated to the right from its course about 32 kilometres (20 mi). At 11:16, the aircraft descended from a height of 3,600 metres (11,800 ft) to 2,700 metres (8,900 ft). [3] Shortly before the crash, the flight crew intentionally misinformed[1] the flight deck that the airfield was in sight,[4] and the air tower gave them visual instructions on landing; the crew accepted these instructions at 11:21, without actually being in sight of the air field. The pilot then mistook the Holy Nose Peninsula for the location of the air field. [3]
At 11:22 MSK, the aircraft crashed 1,300 metres (4,300 ft) above sea level on the side of a mountain located on the Holy Nose Peninsula in Lake Baikal, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) from the Ust-Barguzin airfield. The flight crashed at a 10-degree angle to the left and an angle of trajectory of 2 or 3 degrees. [2] All 48 people—44 passengers (including 13 children) and 4 crew members—were killed during the crash, and the aircraft was destroyed beyond repair. Much of the equipment was destroyed in the crash, making the exact cause of the accident difficult to pinpoint. [1][3] Among this equipment was the radio compass ARC-5, making its efficiency impossible to determine. [2] Ultimately, the crash was attributed to passive piloting and crew error. [1]
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Air crash
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Questions over approval of Storm Bay salmon farming
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There are questions about the validity of the decision to green-light one of the most significant aquaculture expansions in Tasmania's history, with documents obtained by the ABC revealing it was made by just three sitting members of the nine-member assessment panel. The documents also revealed the Marine Farming Planning Review Panel agreed to allow the development in Storm Bay, despite expert advice it would be impossible to separate Tasmania's three largest salmon farming companies enough to prevent the spread of major diseases. Tasmanian salmon companies Tassal, Huon Aquaculture and Petuna are expanding operations into Storm Bay, south of Hobart, initially to farm a combined total of 30,000 tonnes of salmon but with the potential to ramp up to 80,000 tonnes. A draft letter from former Department of Primary Industries secretary John Whittington to Minister Guy Barnett in February 2019 revealed the Panel's decision to recommend approval of Petuna's Storm Bay expansion was made by just three sitting members — the chairperson Craig Midgley, the person with marine farming experience, Pheroze Jungalwalla, and the person with local government experience, Neil (Jock) Campbell. The quorum of five was only reached because two members, whose terms had expired, sat in on the meeting — the marine resource management member Colin Buxton, and the person nominated by the Minister, Heather Chong. The decision to recommend approval followed the resignation of two other panel members — biosecurity expert Barbara Nowak and environmental management expert Louise Cherrie — over concerns it was "inherently compromised" and geared toward approving "operationally convenient" proposals for the aquaculture industry.
The member with planning experience Pamela Scott abstained, and the position for the person with navigation experience was also vacant.
Regardless, the five sitting and expired members present agreed their combined expertise was adequate to make a recommendation on the development to the Minister for Primary Industries and Water, Guy Barnett. The two expired members have since been reappointed. The letter was redacted in full in the ABC's Right to Information Request on the basis that it was internal deliberative information, but the documents included a link to the full, unredacted version. It revealed the Government was relying on a 90-year-old Act, allowing a person to continue exercising the functions of an office for up to six months after the expiration of a fixed term, as the legal basis for the decision's validity.
Environment Tasmania's Laura Kelly said her organisation was seeking legal advice. "It means there were only three legal chairs present when the decision to approve such an immense development as Storm Bay went through to the Minister. That's certainly open to legal challenge," she said. "Tasmanians aren't dummies. You don't need to be an expert to know that three of nine seats is not a full panel, and we are not considering environment, biosecurity, boating safety, recreational fishing when we're pushing through giant developments."
Greens leader Cassy O'Connor said Mr Barnett needed to justify how the panel was allowed to make the decision, particularly without a biosecurity expert, she said. "I think the Minister needs to provide the legal foundation for a panel that in our view was not properly quorate and was allowed to make a decision of such magnitude," she said. In the letter, Dr Whittington wrote he was satisfied the panel was properly constituted and competent when it made the determination. Mr Barnett said the Government was confident in the advice provided by the panel. "I am advised that the Marine Farming Review Panel was appropriately constituted and had the necessary expertise on the Review Panel at the time recommendations on all the Storm Bay proposals were made," he said. The Right to Information documents obtained by the ABC also reveal a detailed biosecurity presentation was given to the panel in April 2018, recommending a minimum 5km separation between aquaculture companies in Storm Bay to help protect against the spread of disease. The presentation's conclusions were that there was no separation distance that could be applied between companies to reduce the risk to zero, but a default minimum of 5km between companies would provide some protection. "It is not possible to separate leases sufficiently to provide a reliable barrier against spread of major diseases in the water column," the presentation said. "If a major disease occurs, all leases in Storm Bay would have to be considered a contiguous risk area." Despite the recommendation that 5km be the minimum distance between companies, the Marine Farming Planning Review Panel's final report on Petuna's expansion plan said that due to "spatial constraints" in Storm Bay, "a 4km separation between year classes would be a pragmatic compromise".
Ms Kelly said she believed crucial advice to the panel had been ignored. "The risk of massive disease transfer all through Storm Bay is incredibly high," she said. During Budget Estimates late last year, Mr Barnett confirmed there was no government-endorsed biosecurity plan for aquaculture in Storm Bay, but said a draft plan was being developed.
Estimates was told that in the absence of that plan and the panel's biosecurity expert, it was the Chief Veterinary Officer who provided biosecurity advice to the panel.
"The panel made a decision to approve expansion against all science, without good biosecurity advice, and on the say-so of the chief vet," Ms O'Connor said. "Through the whole process, concerns that were raised by communities from Bruny Island to White Beach have been completely ignored."
Mr Barnett said in a statement that the panel sought advice from the Chief Veterinary Officer, industry veterinarians and an epidemiologist. "The panel modified plans following consideration of this advice," he said. "The Storm Bay plans include specific controls to allow for appropriate contemporary and future biosecurity arrangements to be imposed by Government."
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Environment Pollution
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Swarms of Ladybirds with STIs have invaded the UK - The ...
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Some Harlequin Ladybirds are distinctive with black bodies and orange spots – but most look like any other ladybird
(Tony Hisgett/Creative Commons)
Swarms of ladybirds infected with dangerous STIs have been spotted in the UK.
The ladybirds, known as Harlequin Ladybirds, are originally from Asia and were first spotted in the UK in 2004, but this year homeowners have reported scores of the insects hibernating in their homes.
The bug carries a type of fungus called Laboulbeniales which is transferred during mating.
Although not harmful to humans, it sucks nutrients from its host making them slow and more vulnerable to predators such as certain types of birds and spiders.
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Ladybird invasion hits Norfolk
The UK Ladybird Survey said they don’t know the extent of the damage the fungus causes but it could also affect the number of eggs a female can produce in her lifetime.
They typically do not look different to other types of the creature though some are black with red spots.
They tend to cluster around boilers, window frames and smoke detectors.
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Insect Disaster
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2010 Thai political protests
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The 2010 Thai political protests were a series of political protests that were organised by the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) (also known as "Red Shirts")[3] in Bangkok, Thailand from 12 March–19 May 2010 against the Democrat Party-led government. The UDD called for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and hold elections earlier than the end of term elections scheduled in 2012. The UDD demanded that the government stand down, but negotiations to set an election date failed. The protests escalated into prolonged violent confrontations between the protesters and the military, and attempts to negotiate a ceasefire failed. More than 80 civilians and six soldiers were killed, and more than 2,100 injured by the time the military violently put down the protest on 19 May. Popular opposition to Abhisit Vejjajiva's government rose throughout 2009, due to the controversial 2008 "judicial coup" that banned the Palang Prachachon Party and "silent coup" that allowed the Democrats to form a coalition government. [4][5] In February 2010, Abhisit tightened security in anticipation of the Supreme Court's ruling to seize former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's bank accounts, frozen since the 2006 military coup. The UDD did not protest, but announced protests on 14 March in Bangkok to call for new elections. Abhisit further tightened security. Censorship was heightened, and radio, TV stations and websites sympathetic to the UDD were closed. Estimates of the number of protesters on 14 March ranged from 50,000 (by the government) to 300,000 (by the UDD). [6] At the beginning, protests were mostly peaceful, and initially centred at Phan Fa Lilat Bridge. Many protesters came from outside Bangkok, including from numerous provinces in the North and Northeast. [7][8] After initial UDD unilateral demands for an early election were unsuccessful, dozens of M79 grenade attacks occurred far from Phan Fa, but there were no injuries and no arrests. In April, protesters shifted to Ratchaprasong intersection. A state of emergency was declared in Bangkok on 8 April, banning political assemblies of more than five persons. On 10 April, troops unsuccessfully cracked down at Phan Fa, resulting in 24 deaths, including a Japanese journalist and five soldiers, and more than 800 injuries. The Thai media called the crackdown "Cruel April" (Thai: เมษาโหด). [9][10] Further negotiations failed to set an election date. On 22 April, grenade attacks suspected to have been launched from Chulalongkorn Hospital killed one and wounded 86. UDD members invaded Chulalongkorn Hospital in an unsuccessful search for the attackers, drawing widespread condemnation from the Thai press, as the protests started to become substantially more siege-like, with barricades and armed guards creating a UDD fortress in the Ratchaprasong vicinity. Forensics expert Pornthip Rojanasunand later indicated that the hospital might or might not have been the origin of the grenade attacks. No arrests were made for either the grenade attack or the invasion of hospital. [11] A UDD proposal for elections in three months was rejected by Abhisit. On 28 April, the military and protesters clashed in northern Bangkok, wounding at least 16 protesters and killing one soldier. The UDD moved out of Phan Fa and consolidated at Ratchaprasong. On 3 May, Abhisit announced a reconciliation road map and elections on 14 November. The roadmap was tentatively accepted by the UDD, but after they included additional conditions, the government cancelled negotiations. By mid-May, the Ratchaprasong protest site camp was surrounded by armoured vehicles and snipers were positioned in case they were needed. [12] On the evening of 13 May, General Khattiya Sawasdiphol ("Seh Daeng"), security advisor to the protesters and leader of the armed "Ronin" guards known as the black shirts, was shot in the head by a sniper's bullet while he was giving an interview to press. It is unclear who fired the shot; speculation was it was ordered either by the army, by Thaksin to keep him quiet, or was simply a stray bullet. Thereafter, a state of emergency was expanded to 17 provinces and the military cracked down, dubbed by the Thai media as "savage May" (Thai: พฤษภาอำมหิต). An additional 41 civilians were killed (including one Italian journalist) and more than 250 were injured by 20:30, including soldiers. [13][14] One military death was attributed to friendly fire. [15] The government claimed that the civilians killed were either armed terrorists or were shot by terrorists, and insisted that some civilians were shot by terrorists disguised in army uniforms. [16] The military declared the area a "free-fire zone", in which anybody, be they protester, resident, tourist or journalist would be shot on sight, with medics banned from entering. [17][18][19][20] On 14 May, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon encouraged protesters and the government to reopen talks. [21] On 16 May, UDD leaders said again they were ready for talks as long as the military pulled back, but the government demanded the unconditional dispersal of the protesters. [22] A state of emergency was declared in five northeastern provinces on 16 May. The government rejected a Senate call for a ceasefire and Senate-mediated negotiations. On 17 May, Amnesty International called for the military to stop using live ammunition. [23] Armored vehicles led the final assault into Ratchaprasong in the early morning of 19 May, killing at least five, including an Italian journalist. [24] Soldiers were reported to have fired on medical staff who went to the aid of the shooting victims. [24] By 13:30, UDD leaders surrendered to police and told protesters to give themselves up. Dozens of arson attacks soon broke out nationwide on Red Shirt targets including the CentralWorld building, various banks and civic buildings and government buildings. People arrested and charged for arson included a number of Red Shirt supporters. A curfew was declared and troops were authorised to shoot on sight anybody inciting unrest. [24] An undisclosed number of arrests and detentions occurred. Fifty-one protesters remained missing as of 8 June. [25] The government claimed the protests cost 150 billion baht (approximately US$5 billion) to organise.
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Protest_Online Condemnation
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UK, Kuwait agree to strengthen cooperation
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LONDON: Building on a new action plan signed by the United Kingdom and the State of Kuwait at the 17th session of the Joint Steering Group in London yesterday, the two countries will begin to work to strengthen their cooperation in the areas of cyber security, trade, education and development. The Ministerial meeting was held yesterday at Lancaster House, and was chaired by the British side, by Minister of State for the Middle East and North Africa Affairs James Cleverly, and the Kuwaiti side by Deputy Foreign Minister Majdi Al-Dhafiri. The new action plan would allow the United Kingdom and Kuwait to resume joint military exercises during 2022, including the ‘Desert Warrior exercise’. Cleverly and Dhafiri also discussed plans for meetings between Kuwaiti officials and experts from the UK’s National Cyber Security Center later this month. On the trade front, the two sides agreed to work together to set up a virtual and in-person trade event between the United Kingdom and Kuwait at the British Pavilion at Expo 2020 Dubai. The British Council and the National Council for Culture, Arts and Letters in Kuwait also agreed to implement a roadmap to enhance the creative economy in the State of Kuwait. “The breadth of discussions is a shining example of our deep bond, which highlights its importance in enhancing ties between our two friendly countries,” Cleverly said. “The Joint Steering Group ensures that the UK and Kuwait are prepared for future challenges, and benefit from emerging opportunities across the sphere of our historic relationship.” British Ambassador Belinda Lewis thanked the Kuwaiti Ministry of Foreign Affairs and all other participating Kuwaiti government ministries for their co-operation. The partnership has delivered a meaningful and targeted action plan for both sides to achieve over the coming months, with specific progress expected in defense.
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Military Exercise
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Snarling diplomacy: the ‘wolf warrior’ amping up China’s aggro on social media
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On the morning of Monday, November 30, 2020, Prime Minister Scott Morrison was working from his official residence when an aide alerted him to a tweet by a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman. Morrison was about to finish a two-week quarantine after returning from a brief diplomatic visit to Japan, and had spent most of the morning on the phone with Australian wine exporters, discussing Chinese tariffs that had just taken effect (some as high as 212 per cent) the latest in an escalating string of punitive economic measures imposed on Australia by Beijing. But the tweet, posted by a diplomat named Zhao Lijian , represented a different kind of aggression. “Shocked by murder of Afghan civilians & prisoners by Australian soldiers,” he wrote. “We strongly condemn such acts, & call for holding them accountable.” Attached was a digital illustration of an Australian soldier restraining an Afghan child with a large Australian flag while preparing to slit the boy’s throat. “Don’t be afraid,” the caption read, “we are coming to bring you peace!” When the tweet appeared online that morning, there were audible gasps in Parliament House. Earlier that month, the inspector-general of the Australian Defence Force had released the results of a four-year investigation into alleged war crimes committed by elite Australian troops in Afghanistan. The investigation, which described a systemic culture of brutality and lawlessness, implicated 25 soldiers in the unlawful killing of 39 civilians and prisoners, with most of the incidents taking place in 2012. The report dominated news headlines for weeks and sparked a torturous national reckoning. To then see the country’s most grievous sins – already documented by its own government – weaponised in a sarcastic tweet from a foreign official was an almost incomprehensible insult. “I don’t think you could imagine a communication that could’ve been more perfectly shaped to be inflammatory in Australia, and so perfectly insensitive,” a former senior Australian government official said. Zhao Lijian had floated conspiracy theories that the virus originated in the United States. Credit:
Zhao had already made headlines once before, for a tweet in the early days of the pandemic in which he floated a conspiracy theory that the virus originated in the United States. “When did patient zero begin in US?” Zhao wrote. “How many people are infected? What are the names of the hospitals? It might be US army who brought the epidemic to Wuhan. Be transparent! Make public your data! US owe us an explanation!” That time, the US State Department summoned the Chinese ambassador to protest the accusation. Loading
But Zhao’s Afghanistan broadside was something else entirely. The tweet eclipsed the war-crimes report to become the biggest news in Australia and the turning point of a second national reckoning – this time on the subject of China. “There had never been a moment before then where the entire national conversation, from the prime minister’s courtyard to the suburban barbecue, was about China’s offensive, coercive diplomacy,” the former senior government official said. Advertisement
Less than two hours after Zhao’s post, Morrison was on TV delivering a live address from his residence. He denounced the “truly repugnant” tweet and asked for an apology from the Chinese government. “The Chinese government should be totally ashamed of this post,” Morrison said. “It diminishes them in the world’s eyes.”
But Morrison also took care to convey that Australia was prepared to talk whenever China was ready. “I would hope that this rather awful event hopefully may lead to the type of reset where this dialogue can be restarted without condition,” Morrison said. The triangulation was an implicit acknowledgment of Australia’s vexed position – and of how closely China’s bellicose rhetoric was paired with bruising economic and political pressure. “I don’t think you could imagine a communication that could’ve been more perfectly shaped to be inflammatory in Australia, and so perfectly insensitive.”
At the time of the tweet, Australia was under a series of actual and threatened Chinese trade sanctions targeting roughly a dozen goods, including wine, beef, barley, timber, lobster and coal. The government had limited room to manoeuvre: the Chinese market accounts for 36 per cent of Australia’s total exports and, according to one estimate, one in 13 Australian jobs. The tariffs on Australian goods had apparently been imposed in retaliation for Canberra’s recent efforts to counter China’s influence, like barring Huawei from building 5G infrastructure in the country, passing laws against foreign interference in Australian elections and civil society and calling for an independent inquiry into the origins of the coronavirus. Loading
Rory Medcalf, head of the National Security College at the Australian National University and author of Indo-Pacific Empire, said Australia was something of a diplomatic proving ground for China: a liberal democracy and American ally that, despite its middle-power status, is stymieing China’s efforts to dominate the region. “China has been making an example of the country that’s setting an example for pushing back,” he said. Advertisement
It would be tempting to dismiss Zhao’s tweet as a one-off provocation and Zhao himself as a bit player in this geopolitical drama. But, in fact, his influence has been immense. Despite being almost entirely unknown, even in China, until two years ago, Zhao has managed to rapidly and completely transform how China communicates with its allies and adversaries. His unbridled style of online rhetoric has spread throughout the Chinese diplomatic corps, replacing the turgid mix of evasive diplomatese and abstruse Communist jargon that characterised the nation’s public statements for decades. At first, Zhao was seemingly on his own, wielding Twitter as his personal cudgel while only a small number of other Chinese diplomats were even on the platform. As his bosses and colleagues in China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs churned out bland statements about “win-win co-operation” and building a “community of shared future for mankind”, Zhao attacked detractors with an almost savage glee: criticisms of China were “dirty lies” and a foreign official whom Zhao disagreed with was “a person without soul and nationality”. Zhao’s timing has proved exquisite. As China’s leader, Xi Jinping, forged a more muscular and confident foreign policy, Zhao was there to introduce a new, chaotic tone into Chinese diplomacy, one that proved perfectly complementary to the president’s vision. Online and in the media, Zhao was called the “wolf warrior” diplomat, a moniker taken from a pair of ultra-nationalistic Chinese action films of the same name. Zhao’s recent ascent through the ranks mirrors China’s broader awakening to its own power, a development that has been decades in the making but was rapidly accelerated by the pandemic. Today, with the pandemic continuing and the battle to control what comes next beginning in earnest, a newly wary world is watching as China discovers its voice – one that sounds a lot like Zhao Lijian. China’s leader, Xi Jinping, forged a more muscular and confident foreign policy, one being reflected by Zhao Lijian. Credit:Getty Images
In his early career, Zhao – who did not respond to interview requests for this article – gave few hints at his future emergence as China’s “wolf warrior” diplomat. Daniel Markey, the former South Asia head of the US State Department’s policy-planning staff, first met him in 2011. In that initial interaction, Zhao was tagging along with a more senior Chinese embassy official. While Markey and the senior official discussed Pakistan and India, Zhao spoke very little, if at all. Advertisement
“I didn’t think much of him,” said Markey, who is now a senior research professor at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore. “He was just kind of there.”
Zhao joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1996 and rose quickly through the ranks, serving at first in the Department of Asian Affairs in Beijing. In 2009, just after then US president Barack Obama began his first term in office, Zhao became first secretary in the political section at the Chinese embassy in Washington – a plum assignment for a diplomat on the rise. In Washington, Chinese diplomats had a reputation for being professional, well-prepared and insular. Most lived in the same apartment buildings or in embassy-provided housing, and spent their free time in the Bethesda area north of the city. They kept to themselves and to the local Chinese ethnic community, eating mostly at Chinese restaurants. American foreign policy hands who interacted with Zhao during this period recall a young diplomat tasked with internal affairs, like preparing reports and briefing superiors. When he did work directly with outsiders, though, Zhao could prove memorable. A business executive who collaborated with Zhao on a number of projects recalled him as “extremely critical, arrogant, unfriendly and just mean”. When the executive fell short of Zhao’s expectations during one such collaboration, the executive was made to endure a criticism session, during which Zhao enumerated all the ways he had been disappointed. “He’s just simply not a very nice person, period,” the executive said. Even some of Zhao’s colleagues were said to regard him as prickly, pretentious and unusually nationalistic. But by the time Zhao returned to Beijing after four years in the US, the shift in the mood and tenor of the bilateral relationship was unmistakable: The Obama administration had announced its “pivot” to Asia; Xi Jinping was president and Communist Party leader; and a downward spiral was taking hold between the two countries. If Zhao drew any conclusion from his time in Washington, it was very likely the same one dawning on so many others in both capitals: China had arrived and the era of diplomatic quiet and biding their time was over. In May 2010, he opened an account on Twitter. Advertisement
Zhao arrived in Pakistan five years later, in the northern autumn of 2015, and almost immediately began tweeting in earnest. He had reason to believe that an outspoken Chinese diplomat would be well received in the country. Zhao had served in Pakistan before, in his first foreign assignment with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; it was a posting uniquely favourable to aggressive Chinese diplomacy. Pakistan was one of the first non-communist countries to switch diplomatic recognition from the exiled government in Taiwan to the People’s Republic of China, in 1950, and it placed a bet on China’s rise well before other regional players. Chinese diplomats refer to Pakistan as their “iron brother” and “all-weather friend”; Pakistani politicians often describe the two countries’ friendship as “higher than the Himalayas, deeper than the deepest sea in the world and sweeter than honey”. Zhao had arrived at a moment of deep uncertainty in Pakistan. The first projects of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) were just getting underway. Through CPEC, which began in 2013, China had committed an initial total of about $US46 billion in energy and infrastructure investment, which amounted to roughly 20 per cent of Pakistan’s gross domestic product. The partnership was a cornerstone of Xi Jinping’s signature foreign policy project, the Belt and Road Initiative, an enormous effort to build infrastructure throughout Asia and beyond in order to strengthen China’s position as the hub of global commerce. Loading
The Pakistani government seemed to be announcing a new batch of Chinese investment every week, but there was no spokesperson responsible for handling CPEC issues, and the messages were sometimes unclear or incomplete; the Chinese embassy, meanwhile, stayed mostly silent. At the same time, the US, disillusioned and disenchanted after a decade and a half of pouring money, resources and attention into Pakistan with little to show for it, was pulling back its presence. US embassy staff members, once very active in the Pakistani media and on social media, started disengaging. Into that void stepped Zhao, who became the sole voice on all things CPEC, both on Twitter and in more staid official communications. “He was the face of Chinese diplomacy in Pakistan and Afghanistan,” said Imtiaz Gul, the executive director of the Centre for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad. “He was in the media far more than the ambassador.”
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At every step, Zhao benefited from the American failure in Pakistan and the lessons it left behind for the next would-be superpower. Zhao won praise for repeatedly highlighting Pakistan’s sacrifices in the “war on terror”, a point that many Pakistanis felt the US had failed to recognise properly. “We started noticing Beijing pushing that line around 2011, 2012, when things deteriorated with the US,” Wajahat S. Khan, a Pakistani journalist who covered CPEC extensively, said. “And this guy just took it to the next level.”
A Twitter presence was part of Zhao’s diplomatic persona from the beginning of his posting to Pakistan. But as Zhao became more comfortable, his pace, and especially his tone, began to change. In early July 2016, he posted a flurry of provocative tweets. First was a cartoon caricature of President Obama as World War II poster girl Rosie the Riveter, superimposed over a grainy photo of the Capitol Building. “From I have a dream to I have drone,” Zhao captioned it. The next day, he posted a cartoon showing an American missile striking a grave labelled “Afghan Peace Talks”, saying, “Pakistan Minister of Interior Nisar: US droned Afghan peace talks to death.”
Zhao also gained fans back home on Chinese social media, where a richer and more nationalistic population was hungry for champions who could translate their country’s growing power into a forceful global presence. “The call to be more assertive and to respond to criticism was coming from China’s top leaders,” said Alessandra Cappelletti, who teaches at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University and has researched Zhao’s social media activity. But, she added, the real impetus was bottom-up, “a consequence of an increasingly nationalistic society which was starting to feel that China’s voice needed to be heard in a more convincing way in the international arena.”
The international environment had also changed. When Zhao arrived in Pakistan, Donald Trump was still months away from winning the New Hampshire primary. Trump’s rise through the northern spring of 2016 and his election as US president that November signalled that the old rules were gone. “It’s not a coincidence that Zhao’s era traces the Trump era pretty closely,” Small said. “It made things seem possible and acceptable, thanks to the mirroring of the US that goes on in the Chinese side. No one in the Chinese system would have been doing this on social media before Trump.”
“It’s not a coincidence that Zhao’s era traces the Trump era pretty closely. It made things seem possible and acceptable, thanks to the mirroring of the US that goes on in the Chinese side.”
With his rhetoric towards China in particular, Trump created an opening for an equally forceful response. “If the US president says China ‘rapes our country’, they have a lot of discursive space,” said Julian Gewirtz, a former senior fellow for China studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, an American nonprofit thinktank specialising in US foreign policy. More broadly, the Chinese leadership may simply be taking a cue from the power that it’s aiming to replace. “Part of it is watching us and learning and modelling themselves on how we behave,” a former US Department of Defence official said. “We’re pretty aggressive. Are we wolf warriors? Or is that just the way great powers handle themselves?”
The first real test of China’s road to rejuvenation – and of the wolf warriors’ ability to help the country get there – came from Hong Kong and the pro-democracy protests that swept across the city in early 2019. That year, as the protests gained momentum, a new wave of Chinese diplomats joined Zhao on Twitter. “Right before things kicked off in Hong Kong, there was basically no diplomatic presence for China on Twitter, other than Zhao,” said Bret Schafer, the media and digital-disinformation fellow at the Alliance for Securing Democracy, a US national security advocacy group. “Now we’ve seen an explosion of accounts come online.” Beijing also began experimenting with covert information operations on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, including creating fake profiles and pages. The response to the Hong Kong protests marked China’s first major foray into so-called “information warfare” on Western social media. In July 2019, as the protests in Hong Kong raged, Zhao engaged in his most contentious and high-profile dispute yet. After 22 United Nations ambassadors signed an open letter denouncing China’s crackdown on the Uighurs and other Muslim and minority communities, Zhao took to Twitter to criticise American hypocrisy. “If you’re in Washington, DC, you know the white never go to the SW area, because it’s an area for the black & Latin,” he wrote. “There’s a saying ‘black in & white out’, which means that as long as a black family enters, white people will quit, & price of the apartment will fall sharply.”
Susan Rice , the former US national security adviser and United Nations ambassador, replied: “You are a racist disgrace. And shockingly ignorant too. In normal times, you would be PNGed for this,” she tweeted, using slang for “persona non grata” – expulsion from a host country. She called on Cui Tiankai, then serving as China’s ambassador to the US, to “do the right thing and send him home” – a public communiqué made possible by the fact that Cui had joined Twitter the previous week, part of the crop of new Chinese diplomatic accounts inspired, perhaps, by Zhao’s runaway success. The next day, Zhao’s tweet had been deleted. Still, he wasn’t backing down: He soon replaced it with a map highlighting Washington’s racial segregation, and he replied to Rice on Twitter. “You are such a disgrace, too,” he wrote. “And shockingly ignorant, too. I am based in Islamabad. Truth hurts. I am simply telling the truth.
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Diplomatic Visit
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Police appeal over bank robbery
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Tasmanian police are appealing for witnesses to a robbery outside a bank in the state's south. A security guard was attacked by two men while depositing cash into a night safe at the Commonwealth Bank on the Channel Highway at Kingston about 1:00am yesterday. Police say the men were wearing balaclavas and stole the money before running off towards John Street. The guard received minor injuries.
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Bank Robbery
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Free Speech Movement
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The Free Speech Movement (FSM) was a massive, long-lasting student protest which took place during the 1964–65 academic year on the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. [1] The Movement was informally under the central leadership of Berkeley graduate student Mario Savio. [2] Other student leaders include Jack Weinberg, Michael Rossman, George Barton, Brian Turner, Bettina Aptheker, Steve Weissman, Michael Teal, Art Goldberg, Jackie Goldberg and others. [3]
With the participation of thousands of students, the Free Speech Movement was the first mass act of civil disobedience on an American college campus in the 1960s. [4] Students insisted that the university administration lift the ban of on-campus political activities and acknowledge the students' right to free speech and academic freedom. The Free Speech Movement was influenced by the New Left,[5] and was also related to the Civil Rights Movement and the Anti-Vietnam War Movement. [6] To this day, the Movement's legacy continues to shape American political dialogue both on college campuses and in broader society, influencing some political views and values of college students and the general public. [7]
In 1958, activist students organized SLATE, a campus political party meaning a "slate" of candidates running on the same level –a same "slate." The students created SLATE to promote the right of student groups to support off-campus issues. [8]
In the fall of 1964, student activists, some of whom had traveled with the Freedom Riders and worked to register African American voters in Mississippi in the Freedom Summer project, set up information tables on campus and were soliciting donations for causes connected to the Civil Rights Movement. According to existing rules at the time, fundraising for political parties was limited exclusively to the Democratic and Republican school clubs. There was also a mandatory "loyalty oath" required of faculty, which had led to dismissals and ongoing controversy over academic freedom. Sol Stern, a former radical who took part in the Free Speech Movement,[9] stated in a 2014 City Journal article that the group viewed the United States government to be racist and imperialist and that the main intent after lifting Berkeley's loyalty oath was to build on the legacy of C Wright Mills. [5]
On September 14, 1964, Dean Katherine Towle announced that existing University regulations prohibiting advocacy of political causes or candidates, outside political speakers, recruitment of members, and fundraising by student organizations at the intersection of Bancroft and Telegraph Avenues would be "strictly enforced. "[10]
On October 1, 1964, former graduate student Jack Weinberg was sitting at the CORE table. He refused to show his identification to the campus police and was arrested. There was a spontaneous movement of students to surround the police car in which he was to be transported. This was a form of civil disobedience which became a major part of the movement. These protests were meant to illustrate that the opposing side was in the wrong. The police car remained there for 32 hours, all while Weinberg was inside it. At one point, there may have been 3,000 students around the car. The car was used as a speaker's podium and a continuous public discussion was held which continued until the charges against Weinberg were dropped. [10]
On December 2, between 1,500 and 4,000 students went into Sproul Hall as a last resort in order to re-open negotiations with the administration on the subject of restrictions on political speech and action on campus. [10] Among other grievances was the fact that four of their leaders were being singled out for punishment. The demonstration was orderly; students studied, watched movies, and sang folk songs. Joan Baez was there to lead in the singing, as well as lend moral support. "Freedom classes" were held by teaching assistants on one floor, and a special Channukah service took place in the main lobby. On the steps of Sproul Hall, Mario Savio[11] gave a famous speech:
... But we're a bunch of raw materials that don't mean to be — have any process upon us. Don't mean to be made into any product! Don't mean — Don't mean to end up being bought by some clients of the University, be they the government, be they industry, be they organized labor, be they anyone! We're human beings! ... There's a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious — makes you so sick at heart — that you can't take part. You can't even passively take part. And you've got to put your bodies upon the gears and upon the wheels, upon the levers, upon all the apparatus, and you've got to make it stop. And you've got to indicate to the people who run it, to the people who own it, that unless you're free, the machine will be prevented from working at all. [12]
At midnight, Alameda County deputy district attorney Edwin Meese III telephoned Governor Edmund Brown Sr., asking for authority to proceed with a mass arrest. Shortly after 2 a.m. on December 4, 1964, police cordoned off the building, and at 3:30 a.m. began the arrest. Close to 800 students were arrested,[10] most of whom were transported about 25 miles by bus to Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. They were released on their own recognizance after a few hours. About a month later, the university brought charges against the students who organized the sit-in, resulting in an even larger student protest that all but shut down the university. [citation needed]
After much disturbance, the University officials slowly backed down. By January 3, 1965, the new acting chancellor, Martin Meyerson (who had replaced the previous resigned Edward Strong), established provisional rules for political activity on the Berkeley campus. [13] He designated the Sproul Hall steps an open discussion area during certain hours of the day and permitted information tables. This applied to the entire student political spectrum, not just the liberal elements that drove the Free Speech Movement. [14]
Most outsiders, however, identified the Free Speech Movement as a movement of the Left. Students and others opposed to U.S. foreign policy did indeed increase their visibility on campus following the FSM's initial victory. In the spring of 1965, the FSM was followed by the Vietnam Day Committee,[10] a major starting point for the anti-Vietnam war movement. For the first time, disobedience tactics of the Civil Rights Movement were brought by the Free Speech Movement to a college campus in the 1960s.
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Protest_Online Condemnation
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1906 Swansea earthquake
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The 1906 Swansea earthquake hit near the town of Swansea, Glamorgan, Wales on 27 June. It was one of the most damaging to hit Britain during the twentieth century, with a small area reaching an intensity of VII on the Medvedev–Sponheuer–Karnik scale. At 9.45am on 27 June 1906, a powerful earth tremor was felt across much of South Wales, its epicentre being placed just offshore of Port Talbot. The quake, which struck just a few weeks after the devastating 1906 San Francisco earthquake, was felt as far afield as Ilfracombe, Birmingham and southwest Ireland. [1]
Swansea is located near the southwestern ends of two major fault structures; the Neath Disturbance and the Swansea Valley Disturbance, movement on either of which or on any of several adjoining faults may have caused the quake. The magnitude of the earthquake was measured at 5.2 on the Richter magnitude scale. The earthquake was felt by many people, though recorded injuries were minimal: a young man, Thomas Westbury, and a three-year-old boy, Thomas Lewis, were hit by falling bricks and a girl was injured by the toppling of tin plates at Cwmavon. Reports told of bricks falling from chimneys across the city[2] and the Mumbles lighthouse "rocked on its foundations. "[3]
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Earthquakes
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Japan decides to dump treated Fukushima water, with low levels of radioactive tritium, into the ocean
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Japan decides to dump treated Fukushima water, with low levels of radioactive tritium, into the ocean
Japan's government has approved plans to release more than 1 million tonnes of treated radioactive water from the destroyed Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant into the ocean.
Contaminated water is currently being kept in 1,000 tanks sprawling across the facility, but the plant's operator TEPCO said by the end of next year the tanks and the site would be full, with no room to store any more.
The Japanese government insists the water will be treated to remove all radioactive materials except for tritium, which it said had a low impact on health.
The tritium wastewater will be released into the ocean over several decades starting in around two years.
It said that even if the full amount of tritium contained within the tanks was released in a single year, the impact would be no more than 1/1000th of the exposure impact of natural radiation in one year in Japan.
But for local fishermen who live and work around the destroyed plant, it's the reputational damage of this decision they fear the most.
Distrust of TEPCO has also fuelled skepticism amongst locals and the decision is likely to anger Japan's neighbours like South Korea.
It's been 10 years since Japan's worst nuclear accident, which was triggered by the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the country and a massive tsunami that wiped out almost everything in its path.
When the tsunami hit the nuclear plant in 2011, it cut power and consequently cooling to three operational reactors.
The decommissioning is expected to take another 20-30 years, TEPCO said on Tuesday.
All of the water that touches the highly dangerous molten nuclear fuel contained within the destroyed reactors also becomes radioactive.
Whether it's used as cooling for the destroyed reactors or comes in from ground or rainwater, it is collected and then run through a sophisticated processing network of pipes.
The water is treated to remove more than 60 different types of radioactive materials from it, but the Advanced Liquid Processing System (ALPS) doesn't completely purify the water.
The radioactive element, tritium, remains inside all of the stored water, albeit at "low" levels, according to TEPCO.
The reason tritium remains is because it is a radioactive isotope of hydrogen and hard to separate from water.
A panel of experts has recommended disposing of it in the ocean as the most practical option as opposed to releasing it into the air, which TEPCO said would be more difficult to monitor.
The ABC secured rare access to Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant earlier this year — and witness the ALPS system first hand.
TEPCO's Yoshinori Takahashi said tritium was a weak form of radiation and that the water would be released in such limited quantities over such a long period.
By the end of next year, the tanks and the site will be full, and TEPCO cannot legally build more tanks outside of the facility.
It made the decision from the Japanese government increasingly pressing.
Tritium is considered to be relatively harmless because it does not emit enough energy to penetrate human skin.
But when ingested it can raise cancer risks, a Scientific American article said in 2014.
Professor Hiroshi Tauchi from the Ibaraki University Graduate School of Science and Engineering was a member of the government's expert panel that investigated the water release.
He said it was difficult to clearly say there was no impact from tritium, but that it was hard to tell the difference between natural concentrations at such low levels.
"What's important is how we can minimise the level of exposure — if it exceeds a certain level, clearly there will be an effect, but if we can keep it a very low level, there is no visible effect scientifically," he told the ABC.
"So I think you can say that there is hardly any effect — but there is no definite guarantee, so I think we need to think of a balance."
He appreciated how sensitive the issue was but said he did not think the decommissioning problem should be passed on to future generations, with the risk of leakage from tanks.
Professor Tauchi believes the potential distrust of TEPCO and the government means a third party should monitor the release of the water.
In 2013, TEPCO said it withheld the fact that tainted water was leaking into the ocean because it did not want to worry the public until it was certain there was a problem.
In 2018, TEPCO admitted it had not filtered all dangerous materials out of the water, despite saying for years they had been removed.
"People's concern will not be eliminated unless there's trust," Professor Tauchi said.
"It needs a third party that has proper technique to measure tritium and it's very important that it discloses the information.
"Without that, I cannot confidently say that it could be kept under the required standards."
Haruo Ono has been fishing in Fukushima's waters for 50 years.
Mr Ono can only go out to fish a few days per week because of restrictions imposed by the government, which are designed to prevent Fukushima fish from being left unsold at markets and to shore up prices.
The nuclear meltdown destroyed his livelihood and since 2011, he said it had been an extraordinary challenge to convince people that Fukushima fish were safe.
Although most fishermen are receiving compensation payments from TEPCO to cover their revenue shortfalls, he fears that if contaminated water is released into the ocean, it will finish off the industry for good.
"They say it's OK to release tritium, but what do consumers think? We can't sell fish because the consumers say no," he told me earlier this year.
Last October, the head of Japan's fisheries unions said releasing the water would have a "catastrophic impact" on the industry.
China's foreign ministry on Tuesday criticised the Japanese government's decision, calling it "extremely irresponsible".
In a statement on the ministry's website, a spokesman said Japan should refrain from initiating the discharge until it had consulted and reached agreement with all stakeholder countries and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
China reserved the right to respond further to the release of contaminated water, the spokesman said in the statement.
The United States noted that Japan has worked closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency in its handling of the site since the meltdown in three reactors a decade ago.
"In this unique and challenging situation, Japan has weighed the options and effects, has been transparent about its decision, and appears to have adopted an approach in accordance with globally accepted nuclear safety standards," the US Department of State said in a statement on its website.
TEPCO will then dilute the water until levels fall below regulatory limits, before pumping it directly into the ocean from the coastal site.
Water containing tritium is routinely released from nuclear plants around the world and releasing the Fukushima water to the ocean is supported by regulatory authorities.
It will build a facility under the regulatory authority's safety requirements in the next few years.
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Environment Pollution
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Blockupy movement
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Blockupy is a movement protesting against austerity. The Blockupy alliance includes trade unions and Germany's Linkspartei. [1]
Representing grass-roots critics of supranational financial institutions such as the “troika”: the European Commission (EC), European Central Bank (ECB) and International Monetary Fund (IMF),[2] its name is derived from the Occupy movement which sprang up in Wall Street in 2011. [2]
Organisers have verbally supported (since July 2015, former) Greek finance minister Yanis Varoufakis's criticism that ECB policy towards Athens is "asphyxiating". [2]
Thousands of people attended the first demonstration in Frankfurt in 2012. [3]
In 2013, protests in Frankfurt were met with heavy police violence. A peaceful demonstration was stopped, 1000 protesters were kettled for hours, and hundreds were injured, several severely. [4] Police action was criticized heavily afterward nationally[5] and internationally. [6]
On 18 March 2015, the day of the opening of the Seat of the European Central Bank, Blockupy organized a major protest in Frankfurt attended by between 17,000 and 20,000 people from Germany and other parts of Europe, including 10,000 people at the main rally. [2][7][8] The Seat of the European Central Bank, the ECB's new headquarters, was selected as the venue for the demonstration so as to highlight the contradiction between the ECB's lavish spending on its own US$1.4-billion building while forcing cuts and market reforms on countries like Greece and Cyprus. [1][2][7] Ulrich Wilken, an organiser, said: “Our protest is against the ECB, as a member of the troika, that, despite the fact that it is not democratically elected, hinders the work of the Greek government. We want the austerity politics to end.”[1] The pan-European protests included members of Greece's radical left governing party Syriza and Spain's anti-corruption Podemos. [3]
The day included both peaceful protest and violent direct action. 10,000 people met at Römerberg, where speakers included Sahra Wagenknecht from the Linkspartei, globalization critic Naomi Klein, comedian Urban Priol, Giorgios Chondros from Syriza and Miguel Urbán from Podemos. [9] On the other side of Frankfurt, around 3,000 attempted to break through the security fence of the ECB. [8] At least 350 people were arrested,[1] and 280 people were injured, among them 150 police officers and 130 protesters from Blockupy. [8][10] Violent scenes were reported. Organisers said police sparked this violence with provocative actions, and described it as "not what Blockupy planned",[11] while the Gewerkschaft der Polizei police union claimed that the violent protesters were organized and rejected claims of provocation. [12] The leader of the Hesse branch of the Linkspartei, a member of the Blockupy alliance, said that the Blockupy movement had "failed" in its aim to offer peaceful protest and had brought the wider anti-capitalist movement into disrepute, a claim which was rejected by some of his party colleagues. [13] The Blockupy representative from the Attac group described themselves as "appalled and saddened by some actions", but said that the majority of the protest was justified civil disobedience. [14] Blockupy organizers from the Ums Ganze and Interventionist Left groups explicitly refused to distance themselves from the violence and expressed joy over the events. [14] Alongside the official members of the Blockupy alliance, the protests were also possibly attended by small groups at the opposite end of the political spectrum, including members of the far-right and neo-Nazis, although their number has not been determined. [15] The Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution announced an investigation into whether the uninvited right-wing groups played a role in the violence that followed. [15]
Protesters attacked police officers with stones ahead of the demonstration. [11] Video footage showed police dragging at least one person away. [11] Police used tear gas, water cannons and pepper spray against people in the ECB area,[1] and in turn reported that "pepper spray or an acidic liquid" had been used against officers. [3] As well as the action against the ECB, some attendees also targeted private cars, shops, banks, firefighters and transport infrastructure. Eight bus and tram stops were vandalised, causing around €50,000 of damage,[16] and trams and fire engines were attacked with stones. [8] According to police figures, 30 cars, including some police vehicles, were set on fire. [17] A home for refugees was also supposedly attacked and staff threatened, which later turned out to be incorrect. [18]
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Protest_Online Condemnation
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Deadly gas explosion at Moghbazar
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We're deeply saddened by the news of a deadly explosion in a building in Moghbazar, Dhaka on Sunday evening that killed at least six people, including an infant, and left about 50 others with various degrees of burns and injuries. Primary investigations have suggested that the blast may have been caused by accumulation of gas from a leakage. It will take some time to establish the reason and gauge the true extent of the damage, but it has been reported that the impact of the blast was so powerful that it shook several nearby buildings. Eyewitnesses have described how the ground floor of the building—where the explosion took place—was reduced to a mound of rubble, with pieces of broken machinery strewn everywhere as the walls and pillars collapsed. The force of the explosion also shot some rubble into the busy road in front of the building, hitting people and passing vehicles and causing injury to many.
What makes this incident outrageous is how easily and frequently such gas explosions are taking place. Only last September, another gas explosion took place in a Narayanganj mosque killing 34 people and injuring many more. In this case too, the blast took place due to accumulation of leaked gas from an underground Titas Gas pipeline that came into contact with an electric spark from the air conditioners at the Baitus Salat Jame Mosque. In the Moghbazar case, although the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) commissioner ruled out the possibility of sabotage, investigators have termed it "unusual" for such a powerful blast to occur from gas accumulation alone. They have also found traces of hydrocarbons, a compound of hydrogen and carbon. Whether there was any external intervention will be hopefully revealed by the probe committee, but this much is evident by now that a gas leak played a part in this and as such, Titas Gas, a repeat offender in such cases, cannot avoid its responsibility.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Titas has long been accused of doing little to prevent unsafe or illegal gas connections leading to many explosions, big or small, fatalities and injuries. This is what happens when corruption and lack of accountability are allowed to go unabated and compromise public safety as a consequence. After each such incident, we see the authorities scramble to control the damage and pledge action to bring those responsible to justice and prevent the recurrence of such blasts. But they keep on happening, leaving behind a trail of devastation. The six who died in the latest case were victims of a systemic failure to prevent such tragedies. Thus, we urge the government to take a long, hard look at the root causes of such gas explosions and take urgent measures to prevent them for good. The victims and survivors of the Moghbazar explosion have our deepest compassion and we hope necessary action will be taken to address their and their families' sufferings.
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Gas explosion
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2019 Italian protests
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The Sardines movement (Italian: movimento delle sardine), also known as Sardines against Salvini (sardine contro Salvini),[5] was a grassroots political movement, which began in Italy in November 2019. [1][2][6]
The movement organized an ongoing series of peaceful demonstrations to protest against the right-wing surge in the country and, more specifically, against the political rhetoric of right-wing leader Matteo Salvini. [7] The name "Sardines" came from the idea of organizing their rallies with high numbers of participants, packed together like sardines in a shoal. [1][8]
While the movement de facto ended after the centre-left victory in the January 2020 election in Emilia-Romagna, it formally ended in May. [9]
The Sardines movement started as a flash mob on 14 November 2019, organized in Piazza Maggiore, the main square of Bologna, Emilia-Romagna. The aim of the event was to contrast the launch of Matteo Salvini's electoral campaign for the 2020 regional election at the PalaDozza in Bologna. [10][11] The slogan of the event was "Bologna non si Lega", which literally translates to "Bologna does not tie itself up", but it also plays with the name of Salvini's party, Lega. [12] The flash mob, which was named "6,000 Sardines against Salvini" ("6000 sardine contro Salvini"),[a] was joined by almost 15,000 people, surprising the whole country and receiving a large media coverage. [13][14]
The movement rose up during the electoral campaign for the 2020 Emilia-Romagna regional election, which has been considered as the first competitive one in the history of the region. [15] Emilia-Romagna has been a stronghold of left-wing parties since the end of the World War II, but in the 2018 general election the centre-right coalition became the largest political force in the region. The Sardines movement started its activity with the aim of preventing a right-wing victory in the January 2020 election. [16]
The first Sardines' rally was warmly welcomed by the Democratic Party (PD), especially by its secretary Nicola Zingaretti, its president and former Prime Minister Paolo Gentiloni and Emilia-Romagna incumbent governor Stefano Bonaccini. [17][18][19] Former Prime Minister and PD's founding father, Romano Prodi, stated that the Sardines are "formidable", adding that they must not be neither "colonized" nor "exploited" by any party. [20]
On 18 November, a second Sardines' rally gathered Piazza Grande in Modena, with more than 7,000 people taking part in the event. [2]
In December, the movement spread outside Emilia-Romagna. On 1 December, more than 25,000 people participated in a rally in Piazza Duomo in Milan,[21] while on the previous day, almost 30,000 gathered Piazza della Repubblica in Florence. [22] On 10 December, 40,000 people demonstrated in Turin in Piazza Castello. [23] Other protests have been staged in Naples[24] and Palermo. [25]
On 14 December, one month after their first rally, Sardines organized a demonstration in Rome at Piazza San Giovanni. [26] According to the organizers almost 100,000 people joined the rally. [27][28] During Rome's demonstration, Sardines' de facto leader, Mattia Santori, presented the movement's proposals to politics, which included, among others, political transparency, condemnation of hate speech, laws against verbal violence and a new immigration policies. [29] Santori especially asked to Giuseppe Conte's government to abolish the so-called "Salvini Decree",[30] a law approved by the previous government, which contained a series of hardline measures that abolished key forms of protection for migrants and made it easier for them to be deported. The decree also suspended the refugee application process of those who were considered "socially dangerous" or who had been convicted of a crime. [31]
On the same day, smaller demonstrations also took place in Brussels, Paris and Berlin. [32][33]
On 19 January, the movement returned in Bologna, with more than 40,000 people attending a rally in Piazza VIII Agosto. [34] It was the last demonstration before the January 26 regional election and was named "Welcome back to open sea". The rally was characterized by a 6-hour long concert with singers and artists like Afterhours, Subsonica, Marracash, Matilda De Angelis, Skiantos, Casa del vento, Bandabardò, Modena City Ramblers, Marlene Kuntz and Pif. [35]
On 26 January, at the Emilia-Romagna regional election, the PD's candidate Stefano Bonaccini – endorsed by the sardines movement – won with 51.4% of the votes, with a 7.7% margin above the League's candidate Lucia Borgonzoni. [36] Some attributed part of Bonaccini's success to the movement's support and activity. [37][38]
The movement declares itself not linked to any party and to mainly pursue the ideals of anti-fascism and the fight against racial discrimination,[39] as well as the rejection of right-wing populism and verbal violence in Italian politics, which they claim should be legally considered as physical violence. [29] The Sardines movement has been generally considered on the left-wing of the political spectrum[40] and has been compared to Girotondi and Purple People, two grassroots movements which rose up in the 2000s to protest against then Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. [41][42]
According to some political commentators, the movement would be limited only to a generic critique of the right-wing, with its open opposition to Matteo Salvini, who is depicted as an authoritarian and undemocratic leader. Moreover critics accused the Sardines of supporting the ruling centre-left government of Giuseppe Conte. [43]
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Protest_Online Condemnation
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WA woman, 28, killed in South West crash lost brother in road accident 15 years ago
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A young woman who was killed in a car crash in WA’s South West region on the weekend also lost her brother in a vehicle accident, 15 years ago. Jacqueline Waa was killed when the Toyota Hilux she was driving near Boyanup struck a tree after coming off the road on South Western Highway, The West Australian reports. The 28-year-old had grown up in Busselton and according to her Facebook page, now lived in Bunbury and worked for Repco. In 2006, her brother Kori Waa also died in a road accident after he was run over on Vasse Highway. According to The West, Kori had been going to the toilet when the driver of the car he’d been travelling in drove off and left him, as a joke. The 20-year-old decided to lay down as he waited for his friends to come back and was then tragically struck by another vehicle. A number of friends have taken to Facebook to pay tribute to Jacqueline, remembering her as someone whose “heart was gold”. “Absolutely shattered and lost for words. Rest peacefully my beautiful Jerry Can,” one friend said. “My heartfelt condolences go out to Jacqui’s family, close friends, the Busso community and my Repco work colleagues.” “It still hasn’t set in that you aren’t coming to work on Wednesday,” another added. “To say my heart is shattered is the lightest way to put it. Who am I supposed to have beers with at the hollow after work and who’s going to give me a cuddle when I really need it. “I’m beyond heartbroken and stuck. This world is never going to be the same without your gorgeous smile and bubbly attitude.” A third friend said she said brought joy to life and everyone in it. “Your heart was gold and I can’t thank you enough for the friendship we had and the precious memories we shared,” they wrote. “Fly high you crazy beautiful angel, I know you’re up there shining your glow on us.”
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Road Crash
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One of the latest discoveries of the Sanxingdui archaeological excavation project
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UFO buffs have been buzzing over the recent excavation of a figurine with alien-like features at the mysterious Sanxingdui ruins, believing it is the site of the remains of extraterrestrial life. Measuring 115cm-tall, the bronze figurine is seen with its hands clasped in front of the body and a square plate on its head. This is one of the latest discoveries of the Sanxingdui archaeological excavation project, aside from the thousands of relics and fragments unearthed before. “It is definitely a star artefact and precious collection,” announced the National Cultural Heritage Administration at the Sanxingdui Culture: A Threshold to Chinese Civilisation recently. The discovery makes a great present to the country as it celebrates the 100th anniversary of Chinese archaeology. This statue is not the only one with protruding eyes, square face, big ears, wide mouth and sharp nose. There were more at the Sanxingdui Museum, including a slew of busts, a figurine with a human head and bird body and a bronze item that resembles a car steering wheel. A bronze figurine with clasping hands at the Sanxingdui ruins in Sichuan province. Such discoveries have led some people to believe the ruins were left behind by aliens but experts gave a definite “No”. “We are not at all linking it to extraterrestrial life,” said Lei Yu, director of the excavation project. Located at a riverbank in Guanghan district about 40km from Chengdu city in southwestern Sichuan province, Sanxingdui shot to popularity following the discovery of 500-plus cultural relics, particularly the gold and bronze masks, in late March. This is a major find which experts believe could help to complete the diverse and long history of Chinese civilisation. Dubbed as one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of mankind, the ruins were found when a local villager dug out some jade and stone artworks while making a ditch near his house in 1929. Excavation began five years later but there was not much progress until 1980 when archaeologists found some tombs and building structures, followed by the city walls.The Sanxingdui Museum was opened in 1997 to display the artefacts unearthed. Today, thousands of relics and fragments including pottery, jade items, bronze wares, ivory tusks and textiles have been discovered. During the five-day Labour Day break last month, more than 80,000 tourists visited the Sanxingdui Museum and spent 5.31mil yuan (RM3.42mil) on entrance fees and souvenirs. This is a three-fold jump compared to 2019 despite Covid-19 limitations. I headed to the legendary Sanxingdui site recently and met with the experts there. Sanxingdui, one of the largest and well-preserved ancient cities in the history of China, spans over an area of 12km. Experts confirm it was the capital, economic and cultural centre of the Shu Kingdom, a highly developed and prosperous culture around the Xia (2,070 BC to 1,600 BC) and Shang (1,600 BC to 1,046 BC) dynasties. So far, city walls, building foundations and burial grounds have been found. Currently, the archaeological team is working on six pits believed to be used for sacrificial ceremonies, in which they have dug out over 1,000 items including an abundance of ivory. As the items in the sacrificial pits were stacked, they could not work the normal way. Archaeologists set up a platform on top of the pits before carefully digging out the relics. “It’s a pity that we have not found any written records,” said Lei Yu. He believed the written characters were probably jotted down on textiles or materials which had decayed over the centuries. “I hope I will find it one day,” he added. However, Wang Wei – director of the Institute of Archaeology at the Chinese Academy of Social Science – has a different view. “In the past, people usually passed down knowledge, stories and messages by word-of-mouth, so it is possible the kingdom did not leave behind any written records,” he pointed out. Among the star artefacts at the Sanxingdui Museum are a 286g gold mask, a 395cm-high bronze tree, a head sculpture which features a pair of slanted eyes with two cylindrical eyeballs protruding from them.There is also a 260.8cm-tall standing figurine of a man, believed to be the Shu King, clad in clothing decorated with a dragon pattern. Another one is a 15.3cm-tall statue of a semi-naked person kneeling on a platform and carrying a pot on his head.
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New archeological discoveries
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12 B-Town Actors Who Tied The Knot With Older Women And Proved That Age Is Just A Number
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Meenu Bahuguna Last Updated: May 27, 2021 | 22:38:56 IST Mark Twain had rightly said that age is an issue of mind over matter. If you do not mind, it does not matter. We have all seen ageing Bollywood heroes romancing young heroines, but the dynamics of love are changing rapidly. The age bar has taken a backseat, and many of our celebrities are setting the right example in this context. Be it huge or little, the age difference has never come in the way of romance for these Bollywood couples. Here, take a look at some of the most successful couples in Bollywood, who got married despite their huge age differences. The madly-in-love couple, Soha Ali Khan and Kunal Kemmu’s first meeting was on the sets of their film, Dhoondte Reh Jaaoge in 2009. Their initial reaction to each other was more of indifference rather than even a simple friendship, however, with time, love sparked between the two. In 2013, the lovebirds had moved in together but remained silent about their future. Finally, after years of their live-in relationship, Kunal had proposed to Soha in 2014, in the city of love, Paris. It was on January 25, 2015, when Soha and Kunal got married at their Khar residence. advertisement After which, it was on September 29, 2017, when Kunal and Soha got blessed with a baby girl, whom they have lovingly named Inaaya Naumi Kemmu. According to Republic India, Soha Ali Khan’s net worth is almost around Rs 50 crores, while Kunal Kemmu’s net worth is reportedly around 5-7 million USD. Soha Ali Khan was 37 and Kunal Kemmu was 32 when the two had gotten married to each other on January 25, 2015. But Kunal and Soha’s age difference of 5 years has never affected their relationship even to this very day, as they’re regarded as one of the best couples in the Bollywood industry. Recommended Read: Celeb Brides Who Broke Stereotypes And Showed Us A Way Forward By Rewriting Society's Wedding Rules Film editor-turned-director, Shirish Kunder met Farah Khan for the first time on the sets of her directorial debut, Main Hoon Naa. Their friendship on the sets soon evolved into love. After some time, during a party, a drunk Shirish told Farah everything about his feelings and since Farah also felt the same way, the two started dating each other. After being in a relationship for some time, Farah and Shirish decided to get married. Farah Khan and Shirish Kunder got married in 2004 in three different religious ceremonies. The first one was a registered wedding which was followed by a South Indian marriage where Shah Rukh Khan and Gauri Khan did the kanyadaan of Farah and finally, there was a nikah ceremony. In 2008, the couple welcomed their triplets and named them Diva, Anya and Czar. According to the reports, Shirish’s net worth is around 1-5 million USD and Farah’s net worth is reportedly 50 million USD. ADVT The age gap between Farah Khan and Shirish Kunder is of eight years and when the two had married each other, Farah was 39 and Shirish was 31. Because of their huge age gap, everyone had doubts about their future. But Farah and Shirish proved everyone wrong, as they’re living happily with their three children. advertisement Also Read: 10 Bollywood Celebrities Who Got Married Before Becoming Famous advertisement The first meeting between Abhishek Bachchan and Aishwarya Rai was on the sets of their film, Dhaai Akshar Prem Ke (2000). However, it was between 2006-2007, when they started developing feelings for each other, as they were shooting for three different films, Umrao Jaan, Guru and Dhoom 2 together. Finally, it was after the premiere of the film, Guru, in Toronto, when he proposed to her in New York, and she immediately accepted his proposal. advertisement The lovebirds, Abhishek and Aishwarya got married on April 20, 2007, and their union is still regarded as one of the biggest weddings in Bollywood. On November 16, 2011, Abhishek and Aishwarya had welcomed their daughter, Aaradhya Bachchan into their world. According to reports, Abhishek Bachchan’s net worth is around 28 million USD and Aishwarya Rai’s net worth is around 31 million USD. The age difference between Abhishek and Aishwarya is of 3 years. For the unversed, in 2007, Abhishek Bachchan’s age was 31 and Aishwarya Rai’s age was 34 when the lovebirds had tied the marital knot with each other. advertisement Read the love story of another famous couple of India with such age difference: The Love Story Of Anjali And Sachin Tendulkar Director-turned-actor, Farhan Akhtar’s first wife was Adhuna Bhabani, who was six years older than him. Adhuna had met Farhan for the first time when he was still writing the script for Dil Chahta Hai. After a series of meetings, the two had fallen in love with each other and in 2000, Farhan and Adhuna got married. In the coming years, the stunning couple, Farhan and Adhuna were blessed with two daughters, Shakya and Akira. Due to compatibility issues, the two had parted ways in 2016. The ex-couple officially got divorced in 2017 and the custody of their daughters was given to Adhuna. According to the reports, Farhan Akhtar’s net worth is around 2.5 million USD and his ex-wife, Adhuna’s net worth is under 1 million USD. The age difference between Farhan Akhtar and Adhuna Bhabani is of 7 years. At the time of their marriage in 2000, Farhan was 26-year-old and Adhuna was 33-year-old. advertisement In 1986, Aditya Pancholi had met Zarina Wahab for the first time on the sets of their film, Kalank Ka Tika and the two hit off instantly. Soon after the film’s release, Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab got married by the end of 1986. Soon, the couple was blessed with two kids, Sooraj Pancholi and Sana Pancholi. Talking about the financial prowess of the two, Aditya Pancholi’s net worth is around 1 million USD and his wife, Zarina Wahab’s net worth is between 1-5 million USD, according to multiple reports. For the unversed, Aditya Pancholi and Zarina Wahab's age difference is of 6 years. At the time of their wedding in 1986, Aditya was 21 and Zarina was 27 and their wedding had redefined the concept of marriage at that time. Legendary actor, Sunil Dutt got married to Nargis, who was a year older than him, and also a bigger star than him at that time. Their relationship began when Sunil Dutt saved her from the fire that broke out on the sets of their 1957 film, Mother India. On March 11, 1958, Nargis and Sunil secretly got married and had then announced the news to their close ones. The elite couple, Sunil and Nargis were blessed with three kids, Sanjay, Priya, and Namrata. Talking about their age difference, Sunil Dutt was 28-year-old when he got married to his 29-year-old ladylove, Nargis and had started his happily-ever-after with her. Must Read: Sanjay Dutt And The Women In His Life, From Tina Munim, Madhuri Dixit To Maanayata Dutt After going through a failed marriage, Archana Puran Singh met Parmeet Sethi at a friend's place and they had hit off instantly, as Parmeet was bowled over with Archana's beauty and grace. After a brief dating period, they had a live-in relationship for four years and on June 30, 1992, Archana Puran Singh and Parmeet Sethi got married and sealed the deal forever. Talking about their financial details, Archana’s net worth is around 30 million USD and her husband, Parmeet’s net worth is around 1-10 million USD, according to multiple media reports. For the unversed, the age difference between Archana Puran Singh and Parmeet Sethi is of seven years. They have been together for more than 20 years now, and are still very much in love. Must Read: 5 Famous Bollywood Actresses Who Chose To Tie The Knot At An Early Age Bollywood’s once loved and ideal couple, Arjun Rampal and Mehr Jesia had broken the hearts of many when they had decided to end their 21-year-long marriage. The duo was considered as the epitome of a steady relationship and was looked upon by all the millennial couples. Arjun and Mehr got married in 1998 and have two adorable daughters, Mahikaa (2002) and Myra (2005). When Arjun Rampal and Mehr Jesia opened up about their plans of marrying each other, many people had pointed their fingers towards their age gap of 2 years, but it had never caused any harm to their married life. For the unversed, Arjun was 26 years old when he married the 28-year-old Mehr in 1998. Also Read: Udit Narayan's Love Life: Married His Second Wife Without Informing Or Divorcing The First Shilpa Shetty had decided to tie the knot with the London-based businessman, Raj Kundra on November 22, 2009, breaking the hearts of many. Three years later, in 2012, Shilpa and Raj had embraced parenthood with the arrival of their little bundle of joy, Viaan Raj Kundra. Then in 2020, Shilpa, Raj and Viaan were overwhelmed with the arrival of an angel, Samisha Shetty Kundra via surrogacy. The age difference between Shilpa Shetty and Raj Kundra is of three months only and at the time of their marriage, Shilpa and Raj were 34 years old. Karan Singh Grover and Bipasha Basu had come close to each other during the shooting of their film, Alone in 2015. After dating each other and setting the headlines on fire with their romantic camaraderie, Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover got married on April 30, 2016. Earlier, Karan’s mom was against this marriage because of the age difference but later agreed to their alliance. They have clearly proved that age is just a number when there is love! The age difference between Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover is of three years and it was a huge topic of discussion when the two had announced their decision to marry each other. At the time of their wedding, Karan was 34 years old and Bipasha was 37 years old. The couple has inspired everyone with their love story and hard work to reach their respective dreams. Their financial details speak everything about this power couple, as Bipasha Basu’s net worth is estimated to be around 15 million USD and Karan Singh Grover’s net worth is 30 million USD reportedly. Also Read: 6 Famous Bollywood Stars Who Remarried Without Divorcing Their First Wives The next couple in this list is the Southern superstar, Dhanush and his wife Aishwarya (daughter of Rajinikanth). The couple got married on November 18, 2004, and has been going strong since then! Dhanush and Aishwarya are proud parents of four kids, Linga Raja, Yatra Raja, Linga Dhanush, and Yathra. Talking about their financial backing, Dhanush’s net worth is reportedly around 20 million USD and Aishwarya’s net worth is between 1-5 million USD. South superstar, Dhanush is one year younger than his wife, Aishwarya and during their wedding in 2004, Dhanush was just 21 years old and Aishwarya was 22 years old. Amrita Singh was already a big star in Bollywood when she fell in love with a very young Saif. They got married against Saif’s parents’ wish. They had a 12 year age gap but that didn’t stop them from falling for each other. Together Amrita and Saif welcomed two kids, Sara Ali Khan and Ibrahim Ali Khan in their lives but the couple had ended their 13 years of marriage in 2004. Saif Ali Khan was only 21 years old when he got married to Amrita, who was 33 in 2004 when the two had become each other’s forever. But Saif and Amrita’s age gap of 12 years wasn’t on the list of things that broke their happily ever after. Recommended Read: When Dimple Kapadia's Sister Simple Felt Uncomfortable Working With Her Brother-In-Law Rajesh Khanna Be it fashion or relationships, Bollywood has always been a trendsetter in the nation. These couples with their successful relationships have proved that true love recognises no barriers, and is really an inspiration for many.
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Famous Person - Marriage
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Two 27-year-old women die in Perth crash amid horror start to WA Day weekend
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Three people are dead and two others are in hospital after four separate road crashes across Western Australia at the start of the long weekend. Two women died after a crash in Perth's south, with police still looking for the passenger of one of the vehicles involved. Police said around 7:40pm, a Toyota Landcruiser was travelling north-west on Ennis Avenue in Cooloongup, in the city's south, when it collided with a Nissan Micra that was turning right off the same road. The driver of the Nissan, a 27-year-old woman from Success, was taken to Rockingham Hospital but died a short time later. The 27-year-old female passenger, from Cooloongup, died at the scene. The driver of the Landcruiser, a 50-year-old man, failed to stop and was arrested a short distance from the crash site. He was taken to Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) and was assisting police with their enquiries. Police are searching for the male passenger of the Landcruiser, who is not believed to be injured and has not been seen since the crash. A man in his 30s also died overnight on Friday after a motorbike crash in Perth's north. Police said the man ran off the road into the retaining wall of a home in Quinns Rocks about midnight. He died at the scene. Meanwhile, two people were taken to hospital in Perth following separate single-vehicle crashes overnight on Friday. About 3:15am, a car driving down Great Eastern Highway, in the Perth hills suburb of Darlington, veered off the road into a tree and caught fire. The 19-year-old male driver was taken to RPH with serious injuries. Another person was taken to RPH by helicopter after a crash in the south-west town of Allanson, near Collie. WA Police Minister Michelle Roberts described the crashes as "absolutely devastating". "Only on Thursday, I was standing there ahead of the long weekend asking people to drive courteously on the roads, to take care, to be aware of the weather conditions which make it more hazardous on the roads," she said. "To now find that we've got three people deceased in the last 24 hours, and others seriously injured, is just tragic. "My heart goes out to those families, particularly to the families of those two 27-year-old women in Cooloongup, the news for them must just be absolutely devastating and heartbreaking." Mrs Roberts said it was concerning that in two of the other crashes, it appeared a car hit a tree. "Again, it's a reminder that on country roads — and Darlington has that country road feel, too — you have to be really careful. "The most common fatality in those circumstances is a car veering off the road into incoming traffic, or a tree." Mrs Roberts said it was especially important to drive safely over the long weekend, given the easing of intrastate border restrictions which allowed people to travel further. "I understand people are excited to be back out on the roads, and some of them will be travelling quite long distances," she said. "Take care on the roads, show some courtesy, slow down, have breaks in your trip." Amid the tragic start to the WA Day long weekend, many road users seeking to leave the city were delayed by construction works in the CBD. The southbound lane of the Mitchell Freeway was blocked off at 10:00pm on Friday, due to works on the Hay Street bridge. The freeway lane may be shut until 2:00pm on Monday, according to Main Roads. The bridge, which has been subject to a number of disruptive hits by trucks, is being raised from a 4.6-metre clearance to a 4.85-metre clearance. Main Roads WA acting metro executive director Peter Sewell told ABC Radio Perth that many people travelling away from the city had left on Friday to avoid traffic. "Yesterday afternoon, from lunchtime, around 70,000 vehicles headed to the south and around 40,000 headed to the north," he said. "I think the grey nomads squealed their tyres on their driveways trying to get out of the city, there were a lot of vans heading north, they've all been waiting with bated breath." Mr Sewell said it was hoped the works could be completed ahead of schedule, possibly by Sunday night, to minimise disruptions on Monday as holidaymakers returned to Perth.
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Road Crash
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Shelton Hospital fire
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The Shelton Hospital fire was a fatal blaze on 26 February 1968 at the Shelton Hospital, Shelton, Shrewsbury, that killed 21 female patients. [1]
A fire was reported in the women's wing soon after midnight on 26 February 1968. [1] By the time that appliances from the Shrewsbury Fire Brigade had arrived, the fire had taken hold over two floors of the wing. [1] A spokesman for the fire brigade reported that 70 firemen had been involved, and the fire was under control by 02:00, two rooms had been severely damaged. [1] Twenty patients died in the fire, and another died in hospital. A total of 140 patients were evacuated from the wing. [1] A further 14 women were injured. An investigation report found that the night staff had no training in evacuation and the Shrewsbury Fire Brigade reported that a ten-minute delay between the night nurse finding the fire and the alarm being raised contributed to the number of deaths, mainly from smoke inhalation. [2] It was believed that the fire started from a discarded cigarette end. [2] The report found that staffing at the hospital was "on the low side," and locking patients into wards was accepted practice, although the 1959 Mental Health Act said the number that needed to be locked in would be as few as possible. [2] A review of fire safety procedures in hospitals in the Midlands was held after this fire. [2]
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Fire
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Covid cases go up in Tamilnadu
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Chennai: Tamilnadu saw a surge in daily Covid cases on Thursday night at 1,745, including one imported case from Karnataka. The total number of cases in the State stood at 26,52,115. After a little over a month, fresh Covid-19 infections topped 1,700 in Tamilnadu. In Coimbatore, 226 people tested positive, while Chennai’s daily count went over 200 again. From 194 cases on Wednesday, the city went on to record 222 on Thursday. Erode’s case count dropped from 130 to 116, while Chengalpattu recorded 107 infections. Cases rose marginally in Thanjavur (89), Tiruvallur (81) and Tiruchi (81), when compared with the previous day. As many as 27 people died of Covid in the last 24 hours, aggregating to 35,427 till date, a medical bulletin said. With the health department focusing more on Covid-19 testing, a total of 1,60,057 samples were tested in the last 24 hours, pushing the cumulative number of specimens examined to 4.59 crore till date.
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Disease Outbreaks
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1967 Milwaukee riot
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The 1967 Milwaukee riot was one of 159 race riots that swept cities in the United States during the "Long Hot Summer of 1967". In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, African American residents, outraged by the slow pace in ending housing discrimination and police brutality, began to riot on the evening of July 30, 1967. The inciting incident was a fight between teenagers, which escalated into full-fledged rioting with the arrival of police. Within minutes, arson, looting, and sniping were ravaging the North Side of the city, primarily the 3rd Street Corridor. The city put a round-the-clock curfew into effect on July 31. The governor mobilized the National Guard to quell the disturbance that same day, and order was restored on August 3. Although the damage caused by the riot was not as destructive as in such cities as Detroit and Newark, many businesses in the affected neighborhoods were severely damaged. Tensions increased afterward between police and residents. The July disturbance also served as a catalyst to additional unrest in the city; equal housing marches held in August often turned violent as white residents clashed with black demonstrators. During the mid-1960s, there was race-related civil unrest in a number of major US cities, including riots in Harlem and Philadelphia in 1964; Los Angeles in 1965; and Cleveland and Chicago in 1966. During the summer of 1967, a total of 159 race riots broke out across the country in what would come to be known as the Long Hot Summer.
Milwaukee communities had long been segregated when Alderwoman Vel Phillips, the first woman and African American to hold the position, proposed the first fair housing[a][clarification needed] ordinance in March 1962. She continued to introduce fair housing proposals over the next five years. Four times they were defeated by the city council.
By the summer of 1967, tensions continued to escalate, and protests became increasingly common, including multiple demonstrations outside the private homes of the city's Aldermen. Mayor Henry Maier, the city council, and school board refused to address civil rights grievances, and relations between the police and the residents worsened. As historian Patrick Jones put it, "Blight had surrounded, and then devoured, the heart of Milwaukee's black community. "
Recent uprisings in Newark and Detroit, which had broken out July 12 and 23 respectively, only served to make matters worse.LeRoy Jones, then one of 18 black police officers among the total of 2,056 officers in the city's department, described the situation:
There were some rumors that something was going to happen ... We did know there was going to be a riot. The Police Department knew - one to two weeks ahead - that something was planned. It was predicted that it would be on 3rd Street.
According to a study that was administered by Karl Flaming, over 95% of all local African Americans did not participate in this disturbance. A majority of the citizens that took part in this riot were young black men who lived in the inner core of Milwaukee. Of the participants, 35 % were unemployed and 20% were classified as poor.
Around midnight on the evening of July 29, a fight broke out between two black women outside the St. Francis Social Center, on the corner of 4th and West Brown streets. A crowd of 350 spectators gathered, and when police arrived to respond to the disturbance, the crowd began to throw rocks at police vehicles.Soon more police came, dressed in riot gear. Some property damage was done but the crowd was quickly dispersed.
The day of Sunday, July 30 was calm, but rumors spread and tensions grew.
A large crowd gathered that evening on 3rd Street. It is not clear what event started the outbreak, but at least one story circulated that police had assaulted a young boy. Squire Austin, who was at a civil rights rally, recalled, "The rumor we got ... was that police had beaten up a kid pretty bad over on Third and Walnut ... that's when the looting and firebombing started. "
By 10:00 PM a crowd of 300 were throwing missilesat stores owned by white residents, starting fires, and looting. The police reacted with violence, and the mob reacted in turn. More fights broke out around 3rd Street, and shootings were reported on Center Street. Along the area from West State street to West Burleigh street looting broke out, multiple shootings occurred, and more fires were set.
Just prior to midnight, the mayor went to City Hall to meet with Police Chief Harold Breier. Reports of the first fires came in, along with reports of dispatched firefighters being assailed by stones and prevented from extinguishing them. The mayor requested Governor Warren Knowles notify the Wisconsin National Guard to be on standby.
Around 2 AM on July 31, in the area around North 2nd street and West Center street, iron worker Milton L. Nelsen was driving through the mostly black inhabited area, when someone shouted "He's got a gun in the glove compartment. " Shotgun fire came from a nearby house, and Nelsen was shot in the face. Hannah Jackson, a bystander, was also hit. When police responded, officer Bryan Moschea was shot and killed when he entered a building thought to be the location of a sniper. Four other officers were wounded. The body of Annie Mosley, aged 77, was found in the burned-out building. She had been shot in the head. Another woman, Willie Ella Green, aged 43, suffered a fatal heart attack running from her second story apartment.
The mayor received word of the shootings and fire at West Center at 2:26 AM. [8] He declared a state of emergency, and imposed a citywide curfew, which took effect at 3:40 AM. [7]:387[8] At the Mayor's request, the National Guard was activated.
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Riot
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Verizon strike of 2016
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The 2016 Verizon workers' strike was a labor action in the United States involving about 40,000 Verizon Communications landline and Verizon Fios workers. [1][2][3][4] The strike, which began April 13, was organized by trade unions International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America, and represents the biggest labor action in the United States since the Verizon strike of 2011 when 45,000 workers walked out. [5][6] Picket lines were established along the East Coast of the United States, from Virginia to Massachusetts. A tentative agreement to end the strike was announced Friday, May 27. [7]
Verizon workers had been without a contract since August 2015 due to a disagreement about support services being outsourced to call centers in the Philippines, Mexico, and the Dominican Republic, a cap placed on pensions, and cuts to their benefits. Nearly all Verizon Wireless workers are nonunionized. [8]
Union leaders refused to accept a new contract citing multiple issues, including pensions, healthcare, work assignments, job security, and wages. According to Verizon, employees received $130,000 a year in wages and benefits. Union leaders claimed that the average total was $74,000 a year. Verizon offered workers a 7.5 percent salary increase. Union leaders responded by stating that the increase would be negated because workers would have to pay an increased amount for deductibles and premiums, prescriptions, and co-pays. [9]
Due to a backlog in new installations, financial analysts projected that it would cost the company approximately $200 million in profits, with a loss of $343 million in revenue from its wireline division in its second quarter. [10] Verizon has advertised for and hired a large number of replacement workers in response. There were several minor clashes between strikers and strikebreakers. In one incident a strikebreaker drew a large knife while confronting a picketer and was arrested by police. [citation needed] However, officials at Verizon claimed that replacement technicians were harassed and intimidated by striking workers. [11] In one incident, the car of a striker collided with another being driven by a strikebreaker. Both of the Democratic Party's candidates for president in 2016, Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, spoke in support of the strikers. In April, Sanders joined a picket line in New York City and gave a speech praising the workers for having the "courage" to strike. [12][13] However, Clinton received criticism for being paid a $225,000 fee by Verizon for giving a 2013 speech, as well as accepting $100,000 to $250,000 into the Clinton Foundation. [14]
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Strike
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One Big Switch hit with fine for misleading customers
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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
Group discount website One Big Switch, which boasts more than 1 million members, has paid two fines worth $25,200 after the consumer watchdog alleged it misled customers over energy discounts.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) said RevTech Media, the company behind One Big Switch, had paid the infringement notices after the regulator pointed to problems with offers advertised in south-east Queensland.
One Big Switch was co-founded by Kevin Rudd's former press secretary Lachlan Harris. News Corp is also a shareholder of One Big Switch.
"What One Big Switch have done wrong is advertising an offer to customers that talked about a 27 per cent discount and savings of up to $372 if they switched to a particular Click Energy offer," ACCC chairman Rod Sims told the ABC.
"There were two problems. One was the 27 per cent was off a number that was 9 per cent higher than Click's undiscounted standing offer, so in fact for most people that discount was closer to 20 per cent.
"Secondly, the savings of $372 were calculated compared to the average standing offer of Click's competitors as distinct to the average market rate of those competitors."
Do you know more about this story? Email Specialist.Team@abc.net.au
Mr Sims explained that many customers of Click's competitors were getting much better pricing, making any potential savings smaller.
"So whether you saved $372 or not depended on whether or not you were stuck on a standing offer of one of those other players — you'd save a lot less if you were on a market offer," he said.
"When you have a discount being advertised and it's not off the standing offer of that company, it's off an inflated offer, before you even get to calculate the discount, I think that's pretty bad and misleading."
Earlier this month, the ACCC released its report into the national electricity market, which included recommendations for comparison websites.
The ACCC said there needed to be a mandatory code for such websites, so offers were based on customer benefit and not commissions.
Mr Sims said the One Big Switch case served as a warning to other comparison sites.
"One Big Switch is a company that makes its money from receiving commissions and we want to make sure that it, like all other comparator websites, puts the consumer first rather than puts their commissions first," he said.
"And also makes clear that they are getting commissions and makes clear how those commissions are paid, so a lot more transparency for consumers."
Despite, or perhaps because of, government inaction, consumers and businesses have flocked towards renewable energy, writes Ian Verrender.
In a statement, RevTech Media told the ABC it "accepted the umpire's decision and has, since November 2017, required all energy offers to be expressed as a headline discount off the retailer's standing offer rates".
"Revtech Media looks forward to regulators and governments developing a simple, common price benchmarking system that will allow consumers to easily compare the price of energy offers — which they cannot currently do.
"At RevTech Media, before we promote any offer to members, we undertake a detailed analysis of the combined effect of the discounts and the underlying rates to ensure the offers are highly competitive for on-time payers.
"We've undertaken this expert analysis for all offers we have presented to members — including any Click Energy offers — and we stand by their price competitiveness in the market at the time."
The ACCC said, between July and November 2017, One Big Switch advertised a 27 per cent discount for consumers in south-east Queensland who switched to Click Energy's Big Switch Up offer.
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Organization Fine
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Here Are 6 Major Archaeological Discoveries That Suggest Ancient Women Were Waaay More Powerful Than You May Believe
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We like to think we know what our ancient female forebears were like. Yet a spate of recent discoveries confirms the truth: that we really have no idea. Clues from ancient texts and archaeological studies can give us a succinct picture of the important roles women have always played (and almost always without applause). So to give them their due, we rounded up a list of the major achievements of ancient women, the original revolutionaries subverting the gender roles we have in place today. A bronze Archaic Greek figure of a running girl. © The Trustees of the British Museum. Bronze statuettes show that Spartan women—also known as “thigh flashers”—were celebrated athletes. In contrast with the lives of most ancient Greek women, female citizens of Sparta were heavily involved in athletics from childhood, beginning with a state-supervised program that was intended to produce strong mothers of strong warriors. Around 40 bronze figurines from the Archaic Period depict Spartan women mid-sprint, with their hand lifting the hem of their tunics to expose a firm upper leg, a habit which earned them the nickname “thigh flashers” during the 6th century BC. The moniker dates back to original accounts describing the women as wearing “loose tunics” while running or wrestling (even against men), and the statuettes deviate from the typical Ancient Greek female form to suggest Spartans idealized women with slender bodies, smaller breasts, and a more muscular build. Wealthy Roman women could act as benefactors. While Roman law gave women no legal status, findings suggest that affluent women found ways to exercise influence through investments. The discovery of a bronze coin in Paestum, Italy, inscribed with the name Mineia marked the rare commemoration of a female citizen in Ancient Rome. Issued in 1st century B.C., details reveal that she sponsored the rebuilding of Paestum’s basilica following the death of her husband, Cocceius Flaccus, a senator and officer under Julius Caesar. What’s more, a bevy of clay bricks continually being unearthed in the Roman harbor of Portus bear the stamp of Domitia Lucilla Minor, the mother of the emperor Marcus Aurelius. As the owner of clayfields across the empire, Domitia was a crucial player in brick manufacturing, making her an ambitious business woman hardly confined to the home or whims of male family members. A researcher studying ancient figurative art in a Borneo cave in Indonesia. Photo by Pindi Setiawan. Ancient women may be responsible for the majority of cave artwork. Scholars have historically pushed the theory that men etched cave drawings as a means of archiving their past hunts or attempting to bring luck to a future pursuit. But a study reported in National Geographic analyzing ancient handprints threatens to debunk the longtime assumption that men were responsible for cave paintings, instead indicating that women were behind a staggering 75 percent of the artworks. Unlike men, women’s index and ring fingers tend to be equal in length. For the analysis, led by archaeologist Dean Snow of Pennsylvania State University, researchers compared finger lengths in hand stencils and handprints taken from eight caves across France and Spain and ranging from 12,000 to 40,000 years old. After running measurements through an algorithm, conclusions determined that three-quarters belonged to women. A Spanish grave site indicates women may have been Bronze Age political rulers. A fresh discovery at La Almoloya, a Bronze Age palace located in Southeastern Spain, is shaking up archaeologists’ understanding of women’s roles in El Argar society, suggesting that women were not only considered adults earlier in life than men, but also may have also held political clout. A two-person grave holding a man and woman was found in the ancient site’s political sector, and was stocked with 29 objects—including, most significantly, a silver diadem—implying a high social status. The crown in particular piqued researchers’ interests, given that this item has only ever been found buried with women. So the discoveries imply that women were bestowed with items in their grave at an earlier age than their male counterparts. Excavations at Wilamaya Patjxa. Courtesy Randall Haas. Ancient women were likely hunter-gatherers. The 9,000-year-old remains of a teenage girl—affectionately dubbed Wilamaya by the team of researchers—is yet another piece in a growing puzzle of evidence that women participated in hunts alongside men. Taking her name from the dig site of Wilamaya Patjxa, the ancient teen was buried with an array of tools used for hunting large animals: a projectile, a knife, and other miscellaneous items geared towards processing game. “The implements were neatly stacked in a small pile right near her hip,” Randall Haas, head of the dig, told Artnet News. “Now we have enough cases that we can be fairly confident” about the existence of women hunters. Other details support this assertion: an expert rendering of Wilmaya portrays her with a hairstyle matching those seen in rock art of the area. The Venus of Willendorf and similar ancient sculptures may have represented the ideal female form in the Ice Age. The hourglass figure may have been en vogue during the Ice Age. Writing in the journal Obesity, three academics posited that the iconic Venus of Willendorf and related Venus figures were heirlooms passed down from generations in order to convey “ideals in body size for young women”—with some women potentially having even worn them as amulets in hopes of achieving a curvier shape. The authors also cited the location of glaciers as having a direct impact upon the build of the Venus sculptures, theorizing that the closer the glacier, the more buxom the figure. As Darwin would have it, the ultimate goal behind a higher fat count was procreation. Due to harsh climates, women in the Ice Age were at risk of compromised pregnancies, and a more voluptuous figure thereby provided a “source of energy during gestation through the weaning of the baby and as well as much needed insulation.”
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New archeological discoveries
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Rare chance to take a tour of historic Hastings shipwreck
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The Shipwreck Museum has organised the guided expedition to Bulverhythe Beach at low tide, on Thursday September 9, beginning at eight o’clock in the morning. Tim McDonald, from the Museum, said: “It is eighteen months since the Shipwreck Museum was able to organise one of its long-established and hugely popular guided visits to the wreck of the Dutch East Indiaman, the Amsterdam, on Bulverhythe Beach. “Back then, just before Covid-19 dramatically brought normal life to a shuddering halt, people were amazed by what they saw – not just the remarkably complete remains of a once-gallant ship, but also the impressive sight of a perfectly preserved Bronze Age forest as well as stretches of potentially fossil-lined Cretaceous rocks, dating to around 140 million years ago. “Now, with the relaxation of pandemic restrictions, all is at last set fair for the visits to recommence. “It is, in truth, extraordinary that what is generally recognised as the best preserved wreck of an East Indiaman – any East Indiaman, not just Dutch – in the entire world should lie on the doorstep of Hastings and St Leonards and yet most residents have no idea that such an incredible maritime treasure exists. “
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Shipwreck
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1981 Armenia mid-air collision crash
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The 1981 Armenia mid-air collision occurred on 18 July 1981 when a Soviet Air Defense Forces Sukhoi Su-15 crashed into the tail of a Transporte Aéreo Rioplatense Canadair CL-44 commercial transport which had strayed into Soviet airspace over the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. The three crew and one passenger on the Argentine aircraft died; the Soviet pilot was able to eject to safety. As part of the Iran–Contra affair, Israel and Argentina collaborated with the United States to send arms to Iran to assist in arming Nicaraguan contras. Transporte Aéreo Rioplatense, which was revealed to be operated by high-ranking officials in the Argentine Air Force, transported military equipment from Israel to Iran, in support of the latter during its war with Iraq. [1]
Scotsman Stuart Allen McCafferty was hired to transport 360 tons of United States-made tank spare parts and ammunition from Tel Aviv to Tehran, and had a Swiss partner, arms dealer Andreas Jenni. McCafferty allegedly approached numerous United States charter airlines, offering them US$175,000 (equivalent to $498,000 today) to operate 15 flights which would carry "pharmaceuticals" between Israel and Iran, but none of them were interested. In June 1981, McCafferty travelled to Buenos Aires, where he persuaded Transporte Aéreo Rioplatense to charter him one of their CL-44 cargo aircraft. [2][3]
After completing the first two round-flights from Tel Aviv to Tehran, via Larnaca in Cyprus, the airline was returning to Cyprus after having delivered the third tranche of cargo to Iran, when on 18 July 1981 the incident occurred. [4][2][3] Before this incident, the Soviet Union had requested that Israel explain to it what was being transported on these cargo flights from Tel Aviv down the Turkish-Soviet border to Tehran. The Israel government ignored this request for information. [5]
On its return flight from Tehran, the aircraft strayed off course. After heading towards the Turkish border, it strayed into Soviet airspace in the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic, which led the Soviets to scramble an Air Defense Forces Sukhoi Su-15 (NATO reporting name "Flagon") to intercept the aircraft. According to Soviet reports, the crew failed to respond to radio calls and visual signals from the pilot of the fighter aircraft. The crew of the CL-44 attempted to get away from the area, and the Soviet pilot directed his aircraft into the tail of the escaping aircraft, causing both aircraft to crash near Yerevan in the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic. The Soviet fighter pilot managed to eject to safety, but the four occupants of the CL-44 – three Argentine crew and McCafferty, who had chartered the aircraft – died. [4] Jenni, the arms dealer who procured the arms that had been delivered by the aircraft to Tehran, disputed these events, claiming that the aircraft was shot down 125 miles (201 km) inside Turkish territory. [2][3]
It is unclear whether the collision was intentional;[4] the Soviet pilot said it was a deliberate attempt to down the enemy aircraft, while Western aviation experts examining his account believed he misjudged a turn and subsequently invented a story of self-sacrifice. [6]
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Air crash
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1996 Odwalla E. coli outbreak
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The 1996 Odwalla E. coli outbreak began on October 7, 1996, when American food company Odwalla produced a batch of apple juice using blemished fruit contaminated with E. coli bacterium, which ultimately killed a 16-month-old girl and sickened 66 people. Odwalla made and marketed unpasteurized fruit juices for the health segment of the juice market. [1]
The Odwalla plant had several food safety issues, many of which arose because Odwalla did not pasteurize its juice. [1] Tests discovered low levels of Listeria monocytogenes, a pathogen that can harm pregnant women, at the Odwalla factory in 1995. [2] In response, the company spent several million dollars to upgrade the plant's safety features, and bacteria were reduced to "relatively low levels". [1]
The next year, Dave Stevenson, Odwalla's technical services director who oversaw quality assurance, suggested to Odwalla executives that the company should add a chlorine rinse to guard against bacteria on the skin of processed fruit, supplementing its existing phosphoric acid wash process. However, this plan was dropped by Chip Bettle, Odwalla's senior vice president, who feared that the chemicals would harm the fruit and alter the flavor of the juice. [1][3]
In a letter to The New York Times written on January 5, 1998, Odwalla's director of communications, Christopher C. Gallagher, wrote that "Odwalla continuously upgraded its manufacturing process in the period leading up to the recall. Moreover, our primary indicator of overall quality was daily bacteria-level readings, which were relatively low and decreasing in apple juice". [4]
On October 30, 1996, health officials from the state of Washington informed Odwalla that they had found a link between an outbreak of the E.?coli?O157:H7 bacterium and a batch of Odwalla's fresh apple juice produced on October 7. This was confirmed on November 5, and may have resulted from using rotten fruit; one account tells of fruit being used that was highly decayed. [1] Another possible source of contamination was fallen apples ("grounders"), that had come into contact with animal feces and not been properly cleaned. [5][6] Confirmation that the bacteria came from outside the factory was provided when an inspection on November 15 found no evidence of E.?coli contamination in the facility. [7] The outbreak came as a surprise as the plant had been inspected by the FDA three months earlier, and Odwalla supervisors were not aware that the E.?coli bacteria could grow in acidic, chilled apple juice. [1] Based on a recommendation from the FDA, on October 30, Odwalla's Chief Executive Officer Stephen Williamson voluntarily recalled 13 products which contained apple juice from about 4,600 stores. [8] Carrot and vegetable juices were also recalled the following day as a precautionary measure, since they were processed on the same line. [7][9] The recall cost the company $6.5 million and took around 48 hours to complete, with almost 200 trucks being dispatched to collect the recalled products. [10] Odwalla opened a website and a call center to handle consumer questions about the recall. [7]
As a result of the outbreak, 16-month-old Anna Gimmestad of Greeley, Colorado, died from kidney failure,[5] and more than 60 people became sick. [11] Fourteen children were hospitalized with hemolytic-uremic syndrome, a severe kidney and blood disorder, and were, according to doctors, "likely to have permanent kidney damage and other lasting problems". [1] In consequence, Odwalla stock fell by forty percent and sales of its products dropped by ninety percent. [12][13] The company laid off 60 workers, and, at the end of the fiscal year, posted a loss of $11.3?million. [9][14]
The outbreak occurred because Odwalla sold unpasteurized fruit juices, though pasteurization had long been standard in the juice industry, claiming that the process of pasteurization alters the flavor and destroys at least 30% of nutrients and enzymes in fruit juice. [3][12][15] Instead, Odwalla relied on washing usable fruit with sanitizing chemicals before pressing. Because of the lack of pasteurization and numerous other flaws in its safety practices (one contractor warned that Odwalla's citrus processing equipment was poorly maintained and was breeding bacteria in "black rotten crud"), the company was charged with 16 criminal counts of distributing adulterated juice. [1] Odwalla pleaded guilty, and was fined $1.5 million: at the time, the largest penalty in a food poisoning case in the United States. [11][16] With the judge's permission, Odwalla donated $250,000 of the $1.5 million to fund research in preventing food-borne illnesses. [17] In addition, the company spent roughly another $12 million settling about a dozen lawsuits from families whose children were infected. [18]
To boost sales following the recall, Odwalla reformulated five products to remove their apple juice content, and released them in November 1996. [9] Flash pasteurization, as well as several other safety precautions,[14] were introduced to the manufacturing process, and the juices reappeared on store shelves on December 5, 1996. [19]
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Disease Outbreaks
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'Horrific' three-car collision near Boyanup kills Bunbury grandmother Denise Pelusey and 2yo Zeak Boxall
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South West police have said an off-duty officer was one of the first to rush to help in a horrific three-car crash which killed a 57-year-old woman and a two-year-old boy, and left five others injured. Investigations into crash continue Police confirmed South West local Denise Pelusey and Zeak Pelusey-Boxall died in the collision on South Western Highway, near Boyanup, on Sunday afternoon. A 39-year-old woman was flown to Royal Perth Hospital with critical injuries, while four children aged between three and 12 years, were taken to Bunbury hospital. South West Traffic Police officer-in-charge Craig Clarke said an off-duty police officer came across the confronting scene on his way home from work and, with members of the public, rushed to help. "He'd finished his duties, was on his way home to spend some time with his family and came across this horrific scene," Sgt Clarke said. "My understanding is he's assisted with CPR on some of the injured parties as well." Sgt Clarke said the crash was among the most difficult that experienced local traffic officers had faced "[They] have said it's the most confronting scene that they've had to deal with, in terms of its entirety and its complexity … particularly when you have young children involved," he said. "One officer attending actually has a two-year-old son … and as much as [police] try to hide it, when I spoke to them it was clear it had taken its toll on them." Sgt Clarke said members of the public and other emergency volunteers had all worked to help at the scene and urged people to look after themselves. "The efforts of everyone there that came across that were phenomenal and everyone deserves a big thank you for that," he said. Investigations are continuing into the crash, which was the second double fatality road crash in the region in as many weeks, after young couple James Mather and Sabine Mather were killed on Bussell Highway on November 1. Denise Pelusey worked for the Department of Justice as a community corrections officer in Bunbury. A department spokeswoman said senior staff had offered sincere condolences to Ms Pelusey's family. "Support is being offered to her colleagues at this difficult time," she said. So far this year, 133 people have died on West Australian roads — 82 of those in regional WA. Recent statistics from the Road Safety Commission showed 17 people had died last month, making it the deadliest month of the year. The figure was 70 per cent higher than October last year.
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Road Crash
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Federal Reserve eyes 2022 rate rise
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Policymakers learned the lessons of 2008 and deployed a wider set of tools to help repair the damage from Covid. They know how to create a recovery, but can they manage the boom? Once ideas about how to manage the economy become entrenched, it can take generations to dislodge them. Something big usually has to happen to jolt policy onto a different track. Something like Covid-19. In 2020, when the pandemic hit and economies around the world went into lockdown, policymakers effectively short-circuited the business cycle without thinking twice. In the U.S. in particular, a blitz of public spending pulled the economy out of the deepest slump on record—faster than almost anyone expected—and put it on the verge of a boom. The result could be a tectonic transformation of economic theory and practice. The Great Recession that followed the crash of 2008 had already triggered a rethink. But the overall approach—the framework in place since President Ronald Reagan and Federal Reserve Chair Paul Volcker steered U.S. economic policy in the 1980s—emerged relatively intact. Roughly speaking, that approach placed a priority on curbing inflation and managing the pace of economic growth by adjusting the cost of private borrowing rather than by spending public money. The pandemic cast those conventions aside around the world. In the new economics, fiscal policy took over from monetary policy. Governments channeled cash directly to households and businesses and ran up record budget deficits. Central banks played a secondary and supportive role—buying up the ballooning government debt and other assets, keeping borrowing costs low, and insisting that this was no time to worry about inflation. Policymakers also started looking beyond aggregate metrics to data that show how income and jobs are distributed and who needs the most help. While the flight from orthodoxy was most pronounced in the world’s richest countries, versions of this shift played out in emerging markets, too. Even institutions like the International Monetary Fund, longtime enforcers of the old rules of fiscal prudence, preached the benefits of government stimulus. In the U.S., and to a lesser extent in other developed economies, the result has been a much faster recovery than after 2008. That success is opening a new phase in the fight over policy. Lessons have been learned about how to get out of a downturn. Now it’s time to figure out how to manage the boom. FOR CENTURIES, theorists have pondered the recurring and inevitable swings that make up the business cycle. They’ve looked for causes in mass psychology, institutional complexity, and even weather patterns. According to the traditional laws of the cycle, it should’ve taken years for households to claw their way back from 2020’s sudden collapse in economic activity. Instead, the U.S. government stepped in to insulate them from its worst effects in a way that hadn’t really been tried before: by replacing the wages that millions of newly out-of-work Americans were no longer receiving from employers. In the aggregate, benefit checks made up for all the lost paychecks and then some—even though creaky systems for delivering unemployment insurance or one-time stimulus payments meant that many people missed out. The scale of this innovation is apparent in what Jan Hatzius, chief economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., has called “the most amazing statistic of this entire period.” In the second quarter of 2020, a time when economic activity—measured by the conventional gauge of gross domestic product—was shrinking at the fastest pace on record, U.S. household income actually went up. U.S. politicians moved rapidly because they could see the calamity that would result if they didn’t. But pandemic-era policies were also shaped by regrets, which had been building for a decade, over the response to the last crisis in 2008. In hindsight, economists have come to regard that response as lopsided and inadequate. Bank bailouts fixed the financial system, but little was done to help debt-burdened homeowners, and household incomes were allowed to fall. The new pandemic economics also shielded the financial system, but from the bottom up instead of the top down—a point repeatedly made by Neel Kashkari, who helped lead the rescue as a U.S. Department of the Treasury official in 2008 and who’s now head of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. As their jobs vanished in the spring of 2020, Americans struggled to make rent, pay mortgages, and cover car payments. Without the government’s efforts to replace lost income, the health crisis that had already triggered a jobs crisis would have morphed into a financial crisis. “How have Americans been able to pay all their bills? It’s because Congress has been so aggressive” with fiscal stimulus, Kashkari said in October on CNBC. “If they don’t continue that, these losses roll up into the banking sector, and nobody knows how big those losses will ultimately be.” After an initial burst of spending, many countries quickly pivoted to reining in their budgets in the years after 2008, driven by concerns about rising public debt—a trend that was most pronounced in Europe. In the U.S., state and local government cutbacks resulted in mass job losses. In both cases, relatively high unemployment and low growth rates persisted for much of the decade. In 2020 the doctrine of austerity went into rapid retreat all over the world. Germany, where politicians and central bankers have long been obsessed with fiscal discipline, scrapped a rule requiring balanced budgets and dropped its opposition to joint borrowing with other euro-area countries. The IMF noted concerns about rising debt levels but said a bigger risk was that governments would curtail their spending too soon. In 2008, U.S. policymakers were overly selective about who should and shouldn’t receive aid and erred on the side of doing too little, according to Kashkari. In a Washington Post op-ed article published on March 27, 2020—the same day lawmakers passed the $2.2 trillion Cares Act, the main pandemic stimulus package—Kashkari reflected on those earlier efforts to help homeowners struggling to pay mortgages. “By applying numerous criteria to make sure only ‘deserving’ families received help, we narrowed and slowed the programs dramatically, resulting in a deeper housing correction, with more foreclosures than had we flooded borrowers with assistance,” Kashkari wrote. “The American people ultimately paid more because of our attempts to save them money.” By contrast, the logic of pandemic policy went more like this: Clearly no Americans thrown out of work by the pandemic—mostly low-paid workers in restaurants and other service industries—lost their jobs through any fault of their own. This made politicians comfortable supporting a big fiscal response. Unlike the Fed actions that dominated crisis firefighting in the past, government spending landed directly in people’s bank accounts. “If you can replace 100% of the lost income in a crisis like this, why don’t we replace 100% of people’s lost income in every cyclical downturn?” Even before Covid-19, the plight of low-paid workers was increasingly a focus of economic policy. The depth of the Great Recession and the slow recovery—it took more than a decade to restore pre-2008 levels of employment—put issues such as economic inequality and racial justice in the spotlight. Wealth and income gaps, especially in the U.S., but in other developed countries, too, have been widening since the 1980s as government intervention in the economy was supplanted by an overreliance on the free market. Direct payments to low-income households could be a powerful new tool to protect people at the bottom of the economic ladder from the wealth destruction that always accompanies downturns. Now that they’ve been used in one recession, it will be hard to argue that they shouldn’t be used in the next one, according to J.W. Mason, an associate professor at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York. Read More: John Jay’s J.W. Mason on The New Economics “If you can replace 100% of the lost income in a crisis like this, why don’t we replace 100% of people’s lost income in every cyclical downturn?” he says. “What is the excuse for saying that because we have some sort of financial crisis—something’s gone wrong in the mortgage market, there’s been a stock market collapse—that ordinary people should see a fall in their living standards?” THE PROMINENCE of such transfer payments during the pandemic highlights another big shift in economics: the handover of power from monetary to fiscal policy and the receding role of the inflation-fighting central bank. In the early ’80s under Volcker, the Fed kept interest rates high to stamp out the double-digit inflation that had taken hold in the previous decade. One effect was to make it prohibitively expensive—in the eyes of policymakers—to pursue social goals by running government budget deficits. Now, after a long period of declining interest rates and largely absent inflation, the central bank is taking the opposite approach. Fed Chair Jerome Powell and his colleagues have been vocal supporters of deficit spending during the pandemic, and they’ve promised to keep interest rates near zero at least until pre-pandemic employment rates have been restored. In March 2020, as Congress met to authorize the largest fiscal package in history, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Powell encouraged her to “ think big” because “interest rates are as low as they’ll ever be.” Even a year later, with trillions of dollars more spending approved or in the pipeline, the Fed’s message hasn’t changed. As President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill was passing through Congress in March 2021, Fed officials played down the inflation risks. White House economists say that if their spending plans, including the $4 trillion infrastructure and child-care packages they hope to pass next, do end up causing unacceptable levels of inflation, then the Fed can always step in and clean up the mess. There’s a heated debate over how big of a risk inflation is. On one side, some economists and Wall Street investors point to households that are flush with cash as a result of pandemic stimulus and savings under lockdown—and itching to get out and spend the money in a reopening economy, as vaccination becomes more widespread. That’s a recipe for an inflationary boom, they say, an argument bolstered by April’s 4.2% inflation rate, the highest since 2008. Bond-market measures of expected inflation over the next five years are also at decade-highs, though after adjustment for the Fed’s preferred gauge they still suggest an inflation rate around where the central bank wants it to be. Lawrence Summers, who served in the last two Democratic administrations (as treasury secretary under Bill Clinton and as director of the National Economic Council under Barack Obama), says Biden has poured too much money into the economy relative to the size of the hole caused by the pandemic. “You need to be progressive, but you also need to get the arithmetic right,” he said on Bloomberg TV in April. “I am worried that this program could overheat the economy.” Conservative economists share the inflation concern, but they have a deeper objection to the new direction under Biden and Powell. They think it’s in danger of losing sight of some fundamental laws of economics. “Fiscal policy has to confront the fact that we do have to pay for things in the long run,” R. Glenn Hubbard, dean emeritus at Columbia Business School who served as chairman of President George W. Bush’s Council of Economic Advisers, said on Bloomberg TV on April 29. As for the Fed, its low-rates policy may struggle to deliver the desired level of employment in labor markets that are undergoing structural change as a result of the pandemic. “It’s an economy readjusting, and the Fed being easy isn’t going to help that,” Hubbard said. “It’s not really a matter of running the economy hot.” In the opposite camp are economists in the Biden administration and the Fed, along with most Wall Street forecasters, as well as the investors who buy inflation-protected bonds. They all expect prices to stay relatively contained after a temporary spike. That view has been shaped by the decade before the pandemic. Higher inflation was supposed to show up in the early 2010s, as a result of post-crisis budget deficits and Fed money-printing—and in the late 2010s, when unemployment rates fell to the lowest levels in half a century. But it never did. Inflation has been declining all over the world for decades. MANY OF THE PEOPLE in charge of central banks, finance ministries, or economics departments have some recollection of the inflationary 1970s and their aftermath. But their offices are increasingly staffed by younger economists who’ve never seen much price instability in the developed world—and who object to the single-minded focus on inflation at the expense of social priorities such as full employment and fairer distribution of income and wealth. These economists are more likely to see inequality as Public Enemy No. 1 than inflation. That kind of thinking underlies the Fed’s strategy review, which last year resulted in a new framework for setting interest rates. The central bank will let inflation overshoot its target for a while before raising rates instead of taking preemptive action that might risk choking off an economic recovery. The idea is that this will allow the benefits of growth to reach every corner of the economy—even people who typically don’t reap gains until late in an expansion, such as low-wage earners. That’s a reversal from 2015, when the Fed began raising rates even though unemployment among Black Americans was 8.5%, almost double the rate for White Americans. Biden’s team has embraced the new economics with fiscal proposals designed to combat inequality. He’s proposing higher taxes on the rich and more spending to benefit the poor, policies that have been out of favor since the ’70s. The administration is also backing a higher minimum wage, and there are signs that more generous unemployment benefits during the pandemic—coupled with some workers’ reluctance to return to work during a health crisis—are already pushing employers in low-wage industries to raise wages. As rich-world policymakers take steps to reduce wealth disparities in their own countries, there’s a danger that the gap between those economies and those of the developing world is widening. Governments in poorer countries can’t spend as freely to help their populations during the pandemic without triggering inflation or scaring off international investors. The Group of 20, the main international gathering of the world’s wealthiest nations, has supported a suspension of debt service payments for countries that request it, but private bondholders don’t have to accept it. Brazil and Turkey have been forced to raise interest rates to address surging inflation and the threat of capital flight, even though their economies are still getting squeezed by the pandemic. In a March report, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development listed some of the ideas that dominated global economic policymaking before the pandemic—“austerity, inflation targeting, trade and investment liberalization, innovative finance, and labor market flexibility”—and described some of their negative effects: “This path led to a world of growing economic inequalities, arrested development, financial fragility, and unsustainable use of natural resources before the pandemic hit.” Of course, some say the new policies could come with damaging consequences of their own. The Fed’s low interest rates, for example, are often blamed for fueling rallies in assets such as stocks and housing that benefit the rich most and widen the wealth gap. And while the new economics has the makings of an updated framework to deal with recessions, it has yet to grapple with the potential problems posed by surging growth. Adherents believe that inflationary pressures, the kind that the policy paradigm from 1980 to 2020 was designed to contain, simply aren’t going to arise anytime soon. If inflation risks do materialize, there’s a debate about how they should be managed. Leaving the job to the Fed and a Volcker-style monetary policy would throw people out of work, hitting the most vulnerable the hardest. That would undermine the goal of achieving a more inclusive economy. Alternative methods, such as the one advocated by Modern Monetary Theory proponents, are gaining traction. In the view of Stephanie Kelton, a professor at Stony Brook University in New York, the government should use fiscal and regulatory tools to manage inflation instead of the blunt instrument of interest rates. For instance, incentives to manufacturers can help avert production bottlenecks that push prices higher, and payroll taxes can be adjusted when consumer demand needs to be pumped up or reined in. Post-pandemic, all of these discussions will likely range a little wider and freer than they might have a few years ago. “We’ve had a generation where we’ve had macroeconomic policymaking dominated by these obsessive fears of doing too much,” says Mason, the heterodox economist. “The fear of inflation lurking around every corner, the fear of government debt passing some poorly specified but frightening limit, the fear that too much assistance to people who are out of work will undermine work incentives.
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Financial Crisis
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Hanging Lake remains pristine after mudslides, but the trail leading to it is treacherous
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GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colo. — The first thing that greets you at the trailhead for Hanging Lake is a pair of picnic tables, covered to their seats with mud and rocks. The rest of the hike is much of the same. The mudslides that blanketed Interstate 70 through Glenwood Canyon in late July also cut off a popular foot traffic route in the canyon: the trail to get to the blue-green lake that has become one of the most popular hikes in the state of Colorado. RELATED: Extreme trail damage to close Hanging Lake at least into 2022 The first bridge along that trail, which crosses a small creek, appears as if someone twisted it like a pipe cleaner. The second bridge is no where near where it should be, forced hundreds of feet away by mud and debris. Scattered all along the 1.25 mile trail is mud and loose rock. “In my mind I had pictured something worse,” said Liz Roberts, an ecologist from the U.S. Forest Service who made the hike with a USFS team and members of the media on Wednesday. It was her first time hiking to the lake since the mudslides closed the trail. “I expected much more climbing up and over debris.” Bebe Suepukdee, a forestry technician with the USFS was also making the hike for the first time Wednesday. “Mother nature is its own force and we just have to adapt and similar to her be resilient," Suepukdee said. But for all the destruction along the trail, the payoff of the hike remained relatively untouched. "I am pretty amazed,” she said as she reached the boardwalk that surrounds the small lake. “The lake is pretty much preserved how it looked before." The color of the water inside Hanging Lake has changed drastically over the course of the month. Early in August when Sky9 flew over the lake, the usually crystal-clear water resembled chocolate milk filled with sediment from last year’s Grizzly Creek fire, which flowed down during unusually heavy rainfall in July. RELATED: Mudslides' impact on Hanging Lake remains unclear When reporters and foresters visited the lake Wednesday, the water was once again blue-green in color, though still slightly cloudy. “The erosion that we’ve seen so far is primarily concentrated downstream of Hanging Lake,” said Justin Anderson, a hydrologist, also making the trip up to the lake for the first time since the slides. “We see now clear water coming over the waterfalls,” he said. Though the lake has long been a popular attraction for tourists and locals, there is still a bit unknown about it. “The water that is delivered to Hanging Lake goes through a network of sub surface flow paths,” Anderson said. “It goes into inlets and comes out of springs upstream from here.” While ecologists and hydrologists have an idea where the water comes from, they don’t know the exact inlets that feed the lake. But they may soon know. They’ve hired a contractor with a grant to conduct an environmentally friendly dye tracing study. “It’s always been on our list to do but it seemed more pressing after the fire especially protecting this whole area,” Roberts, the ecologist, said. The USFS plans to try to get a “primitive” version of the current trail to the lake open soon, thought it would likely only service more experienced hikers. They plan to build a new permanent trail for all visitors in the next few years.
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Mudslides
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Aero Flight 311 crash
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Aero Flight 311 (AY311), often referred to as the Kvevlax air disaster, was a scheduled domestic passenger flight operated by Aero O/Y (now Finnair) between Kronoby, Finland and Vaasa. The aircraft, a Douglas DC-3, crashed in the municipality Kvevlax (Finnish: Koivulahti), nowadays part of Korsholm (Finnish: Mustasaari) on 3 January 1961, killing all twenty-five people on board. The disaster remains the deadliest civilian aviation accident in the history of Finland. [1] The investigation revealed that both pilots were intoxicated and should not have been flying. The Douglas DC-3, registered OH-LCC, was scheduled for take-off at 7:00 a.m., but take-off preparations were late and the plane departed at 7:16. The co-pilot requested free flying altitude from the air traffic control, which was permitted. This allowed Flight 311 to fly at any altitude above the minimum flight altitude for the Kruununkylä-Vaasa route which was 1,500 feet (460 m). The pilots did not follow these regulations for the last 40 kilometres (25 mi), during which they flew below 100 metres (330 ft). [2]:17
Shortly after the flight's last radio contact with the air traffic control, in which the pilots confirmed the weather report and said that they would be at the Seppä NDB radio beacon in a few minutes, the flight was starting to prepare for landing by descending below 50 metres (160 ft). Suddenly, the plane turned abruptly to the left. This slowed the plane and disrupted air flow significantly. The pilots tried to correct the situation by applying full throttle. This did not help and the plane went into a spin. The last thing seen by eyewitnesses on the ground was that the pilots had turned the landing lights on before the plane crashed into the woods at 07:40:30 in a steep 70-degree turn.
The first people to arrive at the scene after 10 minutes were unable to rescue anyone due to the wreck burning in flames over 15 metres (49 ft) in height. The aircraft was extensively destroyed by impact forces and the fire.
The officials concluded that the plane had been airworthy, and the probable cause of the accident was pilot error when making a left turn. It is possible that one passenger might have been present in the cockpit, based on his body location.
No evidence was found of any technical malfunction, of the plane hitting trees, or of an explosion. It was possible that the plane controls had been frozen, as it was a cold winter day. The investigation report concluded that this was unlikely in the flying conditions, and an intact wing that had separated from the main wreckage did not have any ice on it. The pilots had not reported any icing on the plane via radio either. [2]:19
According to the report by the Accident Investigation Board, neither the pilot Captain Lars Hattinen nor the co-pilot Veikko Halme were in a fit state to fly. They had not slept well the previous night, and they had been drinking heavily. Autopsies revealed that pilot Hattinen had a blood alcohol content of 0.20 (2 ‰), while co-pilot Halme had a BAC of 0.156 (1.56 ‰). [2]:15 In all, the group that included one person more besides Hattinen and Halme had drunk 16 bottles of beer, 7 gin grogs and 900 grams of cognac from 21:50 to 02:00. [2]:15 Hattinen had thus neglected his responsibility for the plane's and passengers' safety, and while co-pilot Halme had been in Hattinen's command, with no official responsibility to prevent him from flying, he too should not have been flying that day. [2]:14[3] Both the International Civil Aviation Organization's treaty and the pilots' personal job contracts barred intoxication while in command of a plane—provisions that the pilots ignored. [2]:15 In the police interrogation, no one working at the airport said they had noticed that the pilots were intoxicated. Only a construction worker, whose brother was one of the victims, said he had noted the possibility based on their behavior but could not have been certain. [2]:15 Both Captain Hattinen and co-pilot Halme were World War II veteran pilots with Hattinen being a former fighter ace having six aerial victories, and used to take grave risks on combat flights. Although airlines often retire the flight numbers of flights involved in fatal accidents, the successor to Aero O/Y, Finnair, continued to use flight number AY311 on its Helsinki–Vaasa route for a long time. The flight number was eventually changed to AY313. The flights are operated mainly with Embraer 190 or ATR 72, but some busy Monday and Friday flights are operated by Airbus A320 family aircraft. [4]
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Air crash
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DeLand police investigate shooting that left victim with neck wound
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LAKE MARY, Fla. - DeLand Police are investigating a weekend shooting that sent a 22-year-old man to the hospital.
DeLand Police responded to the 800 block of Valleydale Avenue around 9:15 p.m. on Saturday after residents reported hearing gunshots. During the investigation, officers located several spent handgun shell casings in the roadway but no gunshot victims.
Local hospitals were alerted and asked to let law enforcement know if anyone with gunshot wounds came in to their facility. Shortly after, AdventHealth DeLand said a man arrived at the emergency room with an apparent gunshot wound to the neck. The victim was transported to the hospital in a friend’s personal vehicle and was then transported to Halifax Health Medical Center in Daytona Beach.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate
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FirstBank Southwest receives ‘Best Bank to Work For’ award
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AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) — FirstBank Southwest (FBSW) was named a recipient of the 2021 American Banker “Best Banks to Work For” award, according to a press release by FirstBank Southwest. Regeneron ‘antibody cocktail’ helps prevent COVID-19, trial results show The release stated that the award was given to the bank because of the FBSW leaders, who work hard to “ensure that employees are engaged, creating a work life balance, and just caring about the people you live and work with.” The American Banker program is a competition to determine which banks has the nation’s best employers, with the process managed by Best Companies Group (BCG), the release explained. In addition, the winners are published in American Banker magazine. Banks must fit certain qualifications to be considered for the award, for instance banks must be commercial or retail, with diversified financial services companies, and must have at least 50 employees working in the United States. The release said that the employer questionnaire captures information about workplace policies and practices, with the target response rate having to reach 65% or more. “FirstBank Southwest is honored to be one of the American Banker’s “Best Banks to Work For” list for 2021”, said Andy Marshall, President and CEO of FirstBank Southwest. “We strive to provide our team with an enjoyable workplace where they can maintain a healthy lifestyle. We are especially proud as this award is truly a reflection of the dedication and loyalty of our incredible FBSW family.”
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Awards ceremony
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Spa Road Junction rail crash
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The Spa Road Junction rail crash was an accident on the British railway system which occurred during the peak evening rush hour of 8 January 1999 at Spa Road Junction in Bermondsey, in South East London. On a dark and wet evening, a Connex South Eastern train from Dover Priory to Charing Cross collided with a Thameslink train from Brighton to Bedford causing derailment to both trains. The accident resulted in no fatalities and four injuries. The Thameslink train had been held at a danger (red) signal until the route was set for it to cross from the Brighton Main Line onto the London Bridge Up Loop Line,[1] and the signal then cleared. The Connex train, which was approaching from behind, passed a preliminary caution (double yellow) signal then a caution (yellow) signal and then a danger (red) signal. It continued for 283 metres (309 yards) past the red signal until the point where the two lines converged. It was travelling at an estimated speed of 39 mph (63 km/h) when it collided with the Thameslink train which was estimated to be travelling at around 31 mph (50 km/h). Both trains were derailed and damage was caused to most of the carriages. Disruption was caused to other rail services, although trains continued to run past the accident site on the Cannon Street lines. The emergency services struggled to access the accident scene but eventually 282 people were evacuated from these two trains. Some 200 people from another train a short distance behind (Connex South Central service from London Bridge to Guildford train) were initially left unsupervised, and had to find their own way to evacuate themselves in the inclement weather. Some were evacuated via the disused Spa Road railway station buildings,[2] the former terminus of the South East & Chatham Railway. Trains were still running on the south eastern side, some 30 to 40 ft (9 to 12 m) away from passengers evacuating the Guildford bound train. The driver of the Connex train had already passed a signal at danger without authority on a previous occasion, and was still under special supervision because of this. Following the accident, he was permanently removed from driving duties. There was no history of previous Category A SPADs at this signal. Spa Road Junction is a busy ladder-crossover, located a short distance south east of London Bridge station. It controls the crossing movements to and from London Bridge (High Level) station, and at the time of the collision in 1999 the line configuration was:[3]
All signals in the vicinity of Spa Road junction are 4 aspect colour light signals. The signalling method is Track circuit Block, controlled by London Bridge signalling centre which is located nearby, adjacent to platform 16 at London Bridge station. The Thameslink train was approaching London Bridge from New Cross Gate on the Up Fast line of the Brighton Main Line, and had been signalled to cross on to the Up Passenger Loop of the South Eastern Main Line at Spa Road junction. [4] The Connex South Eastern train was approaching Spa Road from New Cross and had received the correct signalling sequence of a Preliminary Caution (two yellow aspect signal) and Caution (single yellow aspect signal) prior to L154 (the signal protecting the junction) being at Danger. However the driver did not respond to the signals and failed stop his train at the Danger signal, continuing until his train collided with the Thameslink train at the trailing points. The Thameslink train was an eight-coach train consisting of two Class 319 four-coach electric multiple units (EMUs). The Connex South Eastern was also an eight-coach train consisting of a four-coach Class 411 (411602) EMU and a four-coach Class 423 EMU. The class 411 unit was repaired at Eastleigh Works and became the only class 411 EMU in Connex livery as a result. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) concluded that the accident was caused by the Connex train passing a signal at danger (red). The HSE concluded that this was probably due to human error as no evidence of malfunction was found in any equipment tested. The investigation of the accident found "deficiencies" in the training and experience of staff in dealing with emergency situations. The cause of the accident was concluded to be driver error due to poor staff training. One anomaly was that the "Sunflower" display in the cab of the Connex train was showing the all-black "clear" indication (meaning that the last signal which had been passed was displaying a green aspect). However the HSE report concluded that the Automatic Warning System (AWS) on both trains was probably working correctly, and that the shock of the collision had caused the electro-mechanical indicator to change. In any case, even if the AWS had given a wrong indication this would not have absolved[5] the driver of the Connex train of his duty to observe and obey the signals. The conclusion was that the Train Protection & Warning System might have stopped or at least slowed the Connex train down if it had been installed. The Railway Safety Regulations 1999 were introduced in the August, which stipulated that train protection must be implemented throughout the network by the end of 2003. The regulations stopped short of requiring Automatic Train Protection (ATP) to be installed. Coordinates: 51°29′24″N 0°3′16″W / 51.49000°N 0.05444°W / 51.49000; -0.05444
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Train collisions
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Mudslide closes Avalanche Creek Road in Pitkin County
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and last updated 2021-07-22 23:18:30-04 PITKIN COUNTY, Colo. — A mudslide has blocked off Avalanche Creek Road near Highway 133 in Pitkin County, according to the sheriff's office. The Pitkin County Sheriff's Office said it happened approximately a half-mile away from Highway 133. Due to the risk of further mudslides overnight, resources will not be able to clear the road Thursday. Campers will hunker down until the morning. Mudslide on Avalanche Creek Road (Crystal Valley) approx 1/2 mile off Hwy 133. Resources will not be able to clear it due to the risk of further slides overnight. Campers will hunker down until the AM.
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Mudslides
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CFMEU fined $138,000 as Canberra officials handed large individual penalties in right of entry dispute
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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
The ACT branch of the CFMEU is considering an appeal after a right of entry dispute saw the construction union fined more than $100,000, and hefty individual fines issued to three high-level officials.
The decision was made by Justice Warwick Neville in the Federal Court last year, but the judgement and fines have not been revealed until now.
The six local officials found guilty of breaching the Fair Work Act, included the current CFMEU ACT secretary Jason O'Mara, former branch secretary Dean Hall and Fihi Kivalu, who was arrested for separate blackmail offences less than an hour after giving evidence to the trade union royal commission.
Worksites in the Canberra suburbs of Harrison and Wright were caught up in the prosecution, over right of entry disputes in 2013 and 2014.
In one instance a concrete pour was stopped, in another Mr Hall is accused of not showing his authorisation card, and of walking around a site in breach of health and safety rules.
The judgement also mentions threats from other officials, with swearing and gesticulating.
Justice Neville found the six officials guilty last year, imposing the highest penalties on the leadership.
"There is no doubt that certainly in the instances of Mr Hall and Mr O'Mara, union officials of the highest office at a local level were actively, indeed directly, involved in the contravening conduct," he said.
Mr Hall has been fined $27,000 and Mr O'Mara 12,000.
Mr Kivalu was fined $13,000, with others including Johnny Lomax, Zachary Smith and Kenneth Miller all to pay lesser amounts.
Justice Neville noted there was no evidence of loss or damage to the worksites, but noted even the union officials conceded some situations could have been better handled.
But he reserved his worst criticism for the union itself, saying it had a misguided belief that "might was right".
"In my view, it is reasonable of the court to note that the union is, with little dissent I suggest, one of, if not the most, forthright and belligerent of unions in the building industry," he said.
The union has been fined $138,000.
Several of those caught up in the prosecution are no longer in the union, including Mr Hall, Mr Kivalu, Mr Lomax and Mr Miller.
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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Organization Fine
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TWA Flight 800 crash
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Trans World Airlines Flight 800 (TWA 800) was a Boeing 747-100 that exploded and crashed into the Atlantic Ocean near East Moriches, New York, on July 17, 1996, at about 8:31 p.m. EDT, 12 minutes after takeoff from John F. Kennedy International Airport on a scheduled international passenger flight to Rome, with a stopover in Paris. [1]:1 All 230 people on board died in the crash; it is the third-deadliest aviation accident in U.S. history. Accident investigators from the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) traveled to the scene, arriving the following morning[1]:313 amid speculation that a terrorist attack was the cause of the crash. [2][3][4] Consequently, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and New York Police Department Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) initiated a parallel criminal investigation. [5] Sixteen months later, the JTTF announced that no evidence of a criminal act had been found and closed its active investigation. [6]
The four-year NTSB investigation concluded with the approval of the Aircraft Accident Report on August 23, 2000, ending the most extensive, complex and costly air disaster investigation in U.S. history at that time. [7][8] The report's conclusion was that the probable cause of the accident was explosion of flammable fuel vapors in the center fuel tank. Although it could not be determined with certainty, the likely ignition source was a short circuit. [1]:xvi Problems with the aircraft's wiring were found, including evidence of arcing in the Fuel Quantity Indication System (FQIS) wiring that enters the tank. The FQIS on Flight 800 is known to have been malfunctioning; the captain remarked on "crazy" readings from the system approximately two minutes and thirty seconds before the aircraft exploded. As a result of the investigation, new requirements were developed for aircraft to prevent future fuel tank explosions. [9]
The accident airplane, registration N93119 (a Boeing 747-131), was manufactured by Boeing in July 1971; it had been ordered by Eastern Air Lines, but after Eastern canceled its 747 orders, the plane was purchased new by Trans World Airlines. The aircraft had completed 16,869 flights with 93,303 hours of operation and was powered by four Pratt & Whitney JT9D-7AH turbofan engines. [1]:6[10][11] On the day of the accident, the airplane departed from Ellinikon International Airport in Athens, Greece as TWA Flight 881 and arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) about 4:38 pm. The aircraft was refueled, and there was a crew change; the new flight crew consisted of 58-year-old Captain Ralph G. Kevorkian (who had flown for TWA for 31 years and the U.S. Air Force for 9 years), 57-year-old Captain/Check Airman Steven E. Snyder (who had flown for TWA for 32 years), and 63-year-old Flight Engineer/Check Airman Richard G. Campbell Jr. (who had flown for TWA for 30 years and the U.S. Air Force for 12 years), as well as 25-year-old flight engineer trainee Oliver Krick, who had flown for TWA for for 26 days and was starting the sixth leg of his initial operating experience training. [1]:4–5[note 1][12][13][note 2]
The ground-maintenance crew locked out the thrust reverser for engine #3 (treated as a minimum equipment list item) because of technical problems with the thrust reverser sensors during the landing of TWA 881 at JFK, prior to Flight 800's departure. Additionally, severed cables for the engine #3 thrust reverser were replaced. [14] During refueling of the aircraft, the volumetric shutoff (VSO) control was believed to have been triggered before the tanks were full. To continue the pressure fueling, a TWA mechanic overrode the automatic VSO by pulling the volumetric fuse and an overflow circuit breaker. Maintenance records indicate that the aircraft had numerous VSO-related maintenance writeups in the weeks before the accident. [1]:31
TWA 800 was scheduled to depart JFK for Charles DeGaulle International Airport around 7:00 p.m., but the flight was delayed until 8:02 p.m. by a disabled piece of ground equipment and a passenger/baggage mismatch. [1]:1 After the owner of the baggage in question was confirmed to be on board, the flight crew prepared for departure and the aircraft pushed back from Gate 27 at the TWA Flight Center. The flight crew started the engines at 8:04 pm. However, because of the previous maintenance undertaken on engine #3, the flight crew only started engines #1, #2, and #4. Engine #3 was started ten minutes later at 8:14 pm. Taxi and takeoff proceeded uneventfully. TWA 800 then received a series of heading changes and generally increasing altitude assignments as it climbed to its intended cruising altitude. [1]:2 Weather in the area was light winds with scattered clouds,[1]:256 and there were dusk lighting conditions. [1]:4 The last radio transmission from the airplane occurred at 8:30 p.m. when the flight crew received and then acknowledged instructions from Boston Center to climb to 15,000 feet (4,600 m). [15]:4[16][17] The last recorded radar transponder return from the airplane was recorded by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) radar site at Trevose, Pennsylvania at 8:31:12 p.m.[1]:3
Thirty-eight seconds later, the captain of an Eastwind Airlines Boeing 737 reported to Boston ARTCC that he "just saw an explosion out here", adding, "we just saw an explosion up ahead of us here ... about 16,000 feet [4,900 m] or something like that, it just went down into the water. "[18] Subsequently, many air traffic control facilities in the New York/Long Island area received reports of an explosion from other pilots operating in the area. [18] Many witnesses in the vicinity of the crash stated that they saw or heard explosions, accompanied by a large fireball or fireballs over the ocean, and observed debris, some of which was burning while falling into the water. [1]:3
Various civilian, military, and police vessels reached the crash site and searched for survivors within minutes of the initial water impact, but found none,[1]:86 making TWA 800 the second-deadliest aircraft accident in United States history at that time. [19]
There were 230 people on board TWA 800 including 18 crew and 20 off-duty employees,[20] most of whom were crew meant to cover the Paris-Rome leg of the flight. Seventeen of the 18 crew members[20] and 152 of the passengers were Americans; the remaining crew member was Italian while the remaining passengers were of various other nationalities. Notable passengers included:[20]
In addition, 16 students and 5 adult chaperones from the French Club of the Montoursville Area High School in Pennsylvania were on board. [22][23]
The NTSB was notified about 8:50 p.m. the day of the accident; a full go team was assembled in Washington, D.C. and arrived on scene early the next morning. [1]:313 Meanwhile, initial witness descriptions led many to believe the cause of the crash was a bomb or surface-to-air missile attack. [24][25][26] The NTSB does not investigate criminal activity. The Attorney General is empowered to declare an investigation to be linked to a criminal act, and require the NTSB to relinquish control of the investigation to the FBI. [27] In the case of TWA 800, the FBI initiated a parallel criminal investigation alongside the NTSB's accident investigation. [28]
Search and recovery operations were conducted by federal, state, and local agencies, as well as government contractors. [1]:363–365 An HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter of the New York Air National Guard saw the explosion from approximately eight miles away, and arrived on scene so quickly that debris was still raining down, and the aircraft had to pull away. They reported their sighting to the tower at Suffolk County Airport. Remote-operated vehicles (ROVs), side-scan sonar, and laser line-scanning equipment were used to search for and investigate underwater debris fields. Victims and wreckage were recovered by scuba divers and ROVs; later scallop trawlers were used to recover wreckage embedded in the sea floor. [1]:63 In one of the largest diver-assisted salvage operations ever conducted, often working in very difficult and dangerous conditions, over 95% of the airplane wreckage was eventually recovered. [28][29]:1 The search and recovery effort identified three main areas of wreckage underwater. [1]:65 The yellow zone, red zone, and green zone contained wreckage from front, center, and rear sections of the airplane, respectively. [1]:65–74 The green zone with the aft portion of the aircraft was located the furthest along the flight path.
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Air crash
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Massive X Class Flare Erupts from Sun; G3- Strong Geomagnetic Storm Possible Halloween; Radiation Storm Warning in Effect
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Today’s massive X-class flare erupted from sunspot 2887 on the surface of the Sun. A massive X-class solar flare erupted from the sun today and it appears an associated coronal mass ejection from the Sun could reach Earth on October 30 or 31, bringing about a geomagnetic storm on Earth around Halloween. A Radiation Storm associated with the explosion is impacting Earth right now. The largest solar flares are known as “X-class flares” based on a classification system that divides solar flares according to their strength. The smallest ones are A-class , followed by B, C, M and X. Similar to the Richter scale for earthquakes, each letter represents a 10-fold increase in energy output. As a result, today’s X-class flare is ten times an M and 100 times a C class flare. Within each letter class there is a finer scale from 1 to 9. Today’s solar flare is rated an X1. Today’s X-Class flare came from active region #2887 on the Sun, a growing sunspot area first detected days ago. According to NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC), a S1 Radiation Storm began at 1:40 pm ET today; due to this event, they’ve issued a Radiation Storm Warning through 8:40 am ET tomorrow. The initial blast from the sun created a radio blackout in portions of southern North America, Central America, and South America. Right now, radio communication at the polar regions are being severely impacted by the ongoing Radiation Storm. Image: SWPC According to the SWPC, Solar Radiation Storms occur when a large-scale magnetic eruption accelerates charged particles in the solar atmosphere to very high velocities. The most important particles are protons which can get accelerated to large fractions of the speed of light. At these velocities, the protons can rush to Earth in less than an hour after the explosion. When these particles reach Earth, the fast moving protons penetrate the magnetosphere that shields Earth from lower energy charged particles. Once inside the magnetosphere, the particles are guided down the magnetic field lines and penetrate into the atmosphere near the north and south poles. Solar Radiation Storms can cause several impacts near Earth. When energetic protons collide with satellites or humans in space, they can penetrate deep into the object that they collide with and cause damage to electronic circuits or biological DNA. During the more extreme Solar Radiation Storms, passengers and crew in high flying aircraft at high latitudes may be exposed to radiation risk. During such storms, commercial aircraft can be routed away from areas with the greatest radiation risks. According to the SWPC, when the energetic protons collide with the atmosphere, they ionize the atoms and molecules thus creating free electrons. These electrons create a layer near the bottom of the ionosphere that can absorb High Frequency (HF) radio waves making radio communication difficult or impossible. NOAA’s SWPC categorizes Solar Radiation Storms using their Space Weather Scale on a scale from S1-S5. A Solar Radiation Storm can persist for time periods ranging from hours to days. Currently, the Radiation Storm is considered an S1 storm. The Sun is constantly churning material and magnetic fields which create an ever-changing landscape of features that last from milliseconds to days. NASA developed this infographic to illustrate a few of the most common features that can be seen on the Sun. Image: NASA/Mary Pat Hrybyk-Keith A solar eruption seen by the SOHO spacecraft on July 24, 1999, with Earth inserted to give a sense of scale to the blast. Image: ESA / SOHO / EIT Beyond today’s Radiation Storm, scientists are monitoring and forecasting what, if any, impacts the coronal mass ejection from today’s explosion will have on Earth. A coronal mass ejection, or CME for short, can create a Geomagnetic Storm on the Earth. Geomagnetic storms are rated on a 1-5 scale, with 1 being the weakest and 5 having the most potential for damage. Even a G1 geomagnetic storm could create issues: there could be weak power grid fluctuations and minor impacts on satellite operations. Aurora, also known as the “Northern Lights”, could be visible at high latitudes from northern Michigan and Maine to points north. Impacts and aurora change as the geomagnetic storm scale increase. G5 class geomagnetic storms are rare with the last one occurring in 1859. If such a storm were to hit today with modern life’s dependency on electricity and electronics, it would be extremely catastrophic. At this time, the Space Weather Prediction Center reports that Earth can expect a G3 – Strong Storm from today’s unfolding solar event; the geomagnetic storm conditions will arrive sometime late on the 30th or 31st. Chart showing NOAA Space Weather Scales for Geomagnetic Storms. The Northern Lights could come to life in a brilliant way in places more south than usual later today. NOAA forecasters analyze a variety of solar data from spacecraft to determine what impacts a geomagnetic storm could produce. If Earth is experiencing the effects of a coronal hole and a coronal mass ejection is forecasted to impact Earth, the combined effects could result in a more significant impact and more intense geomagnetic storming. Analyzing data from the DSCOVER and ACE satellite is one way forecasters can tell when the enhanced solar wind from a coronal hole is about to arrive at Earth. A few things they look for in the data to determine when the enhanced solar wind is arriving at Earth: • Solar wind speed increases • Particle density decreases • Interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) strength increases While these solar events can help illuminate the sky with stunning aurora, they can also do considerable harm to electronics, electrical grids, and satellite and radio communications. The 1859 incident, which occurred on September 1-2 in 1859, is also known as the “Carrington Event.” This event unfolded as powerful geomagnetic storm struck Earth during Solar Cycle 10. A CME hit the Earth and induced the largest geomagnetic storm on record. The storm was so intense it created extremely bright, vivid aurora throughout the planet: people in California thought the sun rose early, people in the northeastern U.S. could read a newspaper at night from the aurora’s bright light, and people as far south as Hawaii and south-central Mexico could see the aurora in the sky. The event severely damaged the limited electrical and communication lines that existed at that time; telegraph systems around the world failed, with some telegraph operators reporting they received electric shocks. Artist rendering of the Parker Solar Probe in space, one of the assets scientists use to better understand solar activity and their impacts to Earth . Image: NASA A June 2013 study by Lloyd’s of London and Atmospheric and Environmental Research (AER) in the U.S. showed that if the Carrington event happened in modern times, damages in the U.S. could exceed $2.6 trillion, roughly 15% of the nation’s annual GDP. While typically known for their weather forecasts, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and its National Weather Service (NWS) is also responsible for “space weather.” While there are private companies and other agencies that monitor and forecast space weather, the official source for alerts and warnings of the space environment is the Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC). The SWPC is located in Boulder, Colorado and is a service center of the NWS, which is part of NOAA. The Space Weather Prediction Center is also one of nine National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP) as they monitor current space weather activity 24/7, 365 days a year.
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New wonders in nature
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A ‘ring of fire’ solar eclipse will light up the sky this Thursday
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(CNN) — The moon will partially block out the sun this Thursday to create a “ring of fire” solar eclipse. Some people in the Northern Hemisphere will be able to catch the first of two solar eclipses this year on June 10. A solar eclipse happens when the moon crosses between the sun and the Earth, which blocks a portion of the sun’s rays, according to NASA. This eclipse is an annular eclipse, meaning the moon is far enough away from the Earth that it appears smaller than the sun. When the moon crosses paths with the fiery star, it will look smaller than the sun, leaving room for bright light to glow around the edges. This is called “the ring of fire” and will be visible to some people in Greenland, northern Russia and Canada, NASA said. The name “annular” comes from the Latin word “annulus,” which means ring-shaped, according to Farmers’ Almanac. Other countries in the Northern Hemisphere, including the United Kingdom and Ireland, will be able to see a partial eclipse, which is where the moon only covers a portion of the sun. A fingernail-shaped shadow will cover a different percentage of the sun, depending on your location. The path of annularity — which traces where the ring of fire is visible — will begin over the northern United States, then cross over the Arctic before finishing in northeastern Russia, the Farmers’ Almanac said. The moon will begin to cover the sun at 4:12 a.m. ET (1:42 p.m. IST in India) on June 10, according to Farmers’ Almanac. The annular eclipse starts at 5:50 a.m. ET (3:20 p.m. IST), is at its greatest at 6:42 a.m. ET (4:12 p.m. IST) and ends at 7:34 a.m. ET (5:04 p.m. IST). Finally, the partial eclipse ends at 9:11 a.m. ET (6:41 p.m. IST). For more specific times related to your geographic location, check out TimeAndDate.com. If you’re unable to see the eclipse, NASA and The Virtual Telescope Project will be streaming live views. Because some of the sun’s rays will be glowing from behind the moon, it’s important to wear proper eye protection when viewing the solar eclipse, according to the American Astronomical Society. Make sure when you purchase a solar filter that it meets the ISO 12312-2 international standard to protect your eyes. “Eclipse glasses” cost a couple dollars and are the only safe way to view the eclipse, AAS said. Here are some additional safety tips to remember, according to the American Astronomical Society: This year, in addition to the two solar eclipses, there will be two eclipses of the moon — and three of these will be visible for some in North America, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac. After the solar eclipse on June 10, the next opportunity to see an eclipse won’t come until November 19. This partial eclipse of the moon can be viewed by skywatchers in North America and Hawaii between 1 a.m. ET and 7:06 a.m. ET. And the year will end with a total eclipse of the sun on December 4. It won’t be visible in North America, but those in the Falkland Islands, the southern tip of Africa, Antarctica and southeastern Australia will be able to spot it. Here is what else you can look forward to in 2021. Typical of a normal year, 2021 will have 12 full moons. (There were 13 full moons last year, two of which were in October.) Here are all of the full moons remaining this year and their names, according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac: June 24 — strawberry moon July 23 — buck moon August 22 — sturgeon moon September 20 — harvest moon October 20 — hunter’s moon November 19 — beaver moon December 18 — cold moon Be sure to check for the other names of these moons as well, attributed to their respective Native American tribes. The Delta Aquariids are best seen from the southern tropics and will peak between July 28 and 29, when the moon is 74% full. Interestingly, another meteor shower peaks on the same night — the Alpha Capricornids. This is a much weaker shower, but it has been known to produce some bright fireballs during its peak. The Carpicornids will be visible for everyone no matter which side of the equator you are on. The Perseid meteor shower, the most popular of the year, will peak between August 11 and 12 in the Northern Hemisphere, when the moon is only 13% full. Here is the meteor shower schedule for the rest of the year, according to EarthSky’s meteor shower outlook. October 8: Draconids October 21: Orionids November 4 to 5: South Taurids November 11 to 12: North Taurids November 17: Leonids December 13 to 14: Geminids December 22: Ursids Skywatchers will have multiple opportunities to spot the planets in our sky during certain mornings and evenings throughout 2021, according to the Farmer’s Almanac planetary guide. It’s possible to see most of these with the naked eye, with the exception of distant Neptune, but binoculars or a telescope will provide the best view. Mercury will look like a bright star in the morning sky from June 27 to July 16 and October 18 to November 1. The planet will shine in the night sky from August 31 to September 21 and November 29 to December 31. Venus, our closest neighbor in the solar system, is visible in the western sky at dusk in the evenings until December 31. It’s the second-brightest object in our sky, after the moon. Mars makes its reddish appearance in the morning sky between November 24 and December 31, and it will appear in the evening sky through August 22. Jupiter, the largest planet in our solar system, is the third-brightest object in our sky. The giant will be on display in the morning sky through August 19. Look for it in the evenings August 20 to December 31 — but it will be at its brightest from August 8 to September 2. Saturn’s rings are only visible through a telescope, but the planet itself can still be seen with the naked eye in the mornings through August 1 and in the evenings August 2 to December 31. It will be at its brightest during the first four days of August. Binoculars or a telescope will help you spot the greenish glow of Uranus on the mornings of May 16 to November 3 and the evenings of November 4 to December 31. The planet will be at its brightest between August 28 and December 31. And our most distant neighbor in the solar system, Neptune, will be visible through a telescope in the mornings through September 13 and during the evenings September 14 to December 31. The planetary outlier will be at its brightest between July 19 and November 8.
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New wonders in nature
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1938 Yosemite TWA crash
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Coordinates: 37°35′46.74″N 119°29′36.53″W / 37.5963167°N 119.4934806°W / 37.5963167; -119.4934806
The 1938 Yosemite TWA crash involved a Transcontinental & Western Air Douglas DC-2. On March 1, 1938, during a scheduled passenger flight from San Francisco to Winslow, Arizona, TWA's interstate hub, the flight encountered severe weather. The pilot radioed his intention to land in nearby Fresno. The aircraft subsequently crashed on a mountain in Yosemite National Park, and was found three months later. The aircraft was TWA plane #327 AC-III,[1] NC13789,[2] a twin-engine Douglas Aircraft Corporation DC-2-112 piloted by Captain John Graves, a former Army Air Corps pilot who won some measure of fame in 1932 when he located and dropped food to a group of snowbound people in northern Arizona. [3] Crew members on board were the co-pilot, First Officer C. W. Wallace, and stewardess Martha Mae Wilson. The aircraft was flying from San Francisco to Winslow, which was a hub connecting TWA's transcontinental Los Angeles-New York route. [3] It departed San Francisco in conditions of good visibility, with a cloud ceiling between 6,000 and 7,000 feet (1,800 and 2,100 m),[3] and had sufficient fuel to last until midnight. [3] The accident report list the causes of the disaster as "a change in wind direction and a sharp increase in velocity, unknown to the pilot, together with the pilot's confusion as to his position with reference to the Fresno Radio Range station, which combined to bring about flight over mountainous terrain, ending in a crash at near his reported cruising altitude. "[2]
Two hours after takeoff, the flight encountered a building weather front that developed into the most severe storm on the West Coast in 64 years. As the flight neared the Tehachapi Mountains near Bakersfield, California, Captain Graves noticed ice forming on the wings. He advised air traffic controllers, who ordered him to divert to Los Angeles due to the deteriorating weather conditions. [3] Graves replied that he planned to divert to nearby Fresno due to local weather. At 9:28 PM, he requested a weather update; this was his last transmission received by air traffic control. Officials based their search area on the reports of Mrs. C. G. Landry, who was operating the Edison Electric Company power house on Huntington Lake, approximately 45 miles (72 km) northeast of Fresno. She observed the plane at 9:29 PM. It was flying along the San Joaquin River at an altitude of 500 feet (150 m). [3] The search was concentrated in the snow-covered Sierra Nevada mountains to the east of Fresno. [3]
Severe storms that lingered throughout the week hampered searches for the missing aircraft. Pelting rain and heavy winds prevented the use of aircraft in the search, forcing searchers to rely on automobiles, which were unsuited for the rugged mountain terrain. Harold Bromley, the Fresno inspector for the Bureau of Air Commerce, told reporters that the "visibility in the Fresno area was practically zero" as a result of the downpour. [3]
The general search involved both TWA and government officials, who drove to Fresno from San Francisco and Los Angeles to aid in the search. [3] As days passed, Transcontinental & Western Air grew increasingly desperate to find the aircraft, and eventually offered a $1,000 reward (equivalent to $18,385 in 2020) to anyone who could locate the aircraft. On March 2, 1938, the day after the flight's disappearance, Transcontinental & Western Air headquarters told reporters that it had received a message purporting to be from United Airlines offices in Fresno, which claimed that the missing aircraft had been found. The telephoned message said that the plane had been found approximately 20 miles from Fresno with "several passengers injured but everybody alive," as later reported in the Ogden Standard Examiner. [4]
Upon investigation, however, the message turned out to be a hoax; the plane had not been found. An outraged TWA spokesman denounced the message as "one of the cruelest hoaxes ever perpetrated. "[4] Officials at United Airlines offices in both Fresno and San Francisco denied that their employees had been the ones to call in the hoax. Three months after the crash, the aircraft had still not been located. A private citizen, 23-year-old H.O. Collier of Fresno, began a personal search for the missing plane after interviewing numerous TWA personnel and studying charts of the flight path. In early June, Collier hiked into the snowy terrain northeast of Wawona, California, and discovered the wreckage of the aircraft on June 12, 1938. The crash site was located 32 miles (51 km) northwest of the area searched by investigators. The aircraft was partially buried in the snow of Buena Vista Crest, within Yosemite National Park. Eight bodies out of 9 occupants were thrown from the plane. Only the body of stewardess Wilson was trapped in the wreckage. Investigators speculated that the aircraft had been blown off course while attempting to divert to Fresno, and had subsequently lost radio contact. It appeared that the plane had sheared off the tops of pine trees while in a steep bank and crashed into the mountain 200 feet (61 m) below the summit. Seventy-one years later, Bob Hoskin of Redlands, California discovered a collection of artifacts from the crash in a cedar chest at a yard sale. It included a collection of original crash scene photos, letters from family members & TWA Officials, the TWA $1,000.00 reward check stub, First Officer Salisbury's pilot cap, a detailed manuscript written by Collier himself about how he found the plane, and several rejection letters regarding his composition. [5]
On June 13, 1938, after the discovery of the crash site, Daniel C. Roper, the Secretary of Commerce, named a special board to investigate the crash. [6] As the members of the inquisitorial board made their way cross-country from Washington, D.C., the coroner ruled that the cause of death of the victims of the flight was "accidental. "[6]
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Air crash
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1995 Marathon earthquake
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Striking on April 14, 1995, the 1995 Marathon earthquake was recorded at moment magnitude of 5.7. It rattled buildings near the epicenter. The earthquake struck western Texas with magnitude 5.7 force. It was the 3rd largest earthquake in the United States in 1995. [1] The epicenter was probably in Alpine. [2]
Not a particularly damaging earthquake, the event caused two direct injuries. Both were slight. [2]
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Earthquakes
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National Airlines Flight 27 crash
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National Airlines Flight 27 was a scheduled passenger flight between Miami and San Francisco with intermediate stops at New Orleans, Houston, and Las Vegas, operated by a DC-10-10 aircraft (N60NA). On November 3, 1973, at about 4:40 p.m., while the aircraft was cruising at 39,000 feet (12,000 m) 65 miles southwest of Albuquerque, the No. 3 (starboard) engine fan assembly disintegrated in an uncontained failure. Its fragments penetrated the fuselage, the Nos. 1 and 2 engine nacelles, and the right wing area. The resultant damage caused decompression of the aircraft cabin and the loss of certain electrical and hydraulic systems. [3]
One passenger[4] was partially sucked into the opening made by a failed cabin window, after it too was struck by engine fragments. He was temporarily retained in that position by his seatbelt. "Efforts to pull the passenger back into the airplane by another passenger were unsuccessful, and the occupant of seat 17H was sucked entirely through the cabin window. "[5]
The flight crew initiated an emergency descent, and the aircraft landed safely at Albuquerque International Sunport 19 minutes after the engine failed. 115 passengers and 12 crew members exited the aircraft by using the evacuation slides. Of those, 24 people were treated for smoke inhalation, ear problems, and minor abrasions. The plane was repaired and was later flown by Pan Am (as Clipper Meteor). The New Mexico State Police and local organizations searched extensively for the missing passenger who was sucked out of the window. Computer analysis was made of the possible falling trajectories, which narrowed the search pattern. However, the search effort was unsuccessful, and the body of the passenger was not recovered until two years later when a construction crew, working on the tracks for the Very Large Array radio telescope, came upon his skeletal remains. The remains took another year for the medical investigator in Albuquerque to identify. [6]
The National Transportation Safety Board determined the probable cause of this accident was the disintegration of the No. 3 engine fan assembly as a result of an interaction between the fan blade tips and the fan case. According to the NTSB, "the precise reason or reasons for the acceleration and the onset of the destructive vibration could not be determined conclusively," but enough was learned to prevent the occurrence of similar events. The speed of the engine at the time of the accident caused a resonance wave to occur in the fan assembly when the tips of the fan blades began to make contact with the surrounding shroud. The engine was designed to have a rearward blade retaining force of 18,000 pounds to prevent the blades from moving forward in their mountings slots and subsequently departing from the fan disk. The rearward force was not enough. As a result of this accident, GE re-designed the engine so that the blade retaining capability was increased to 60,000 pounds, and that change was incorporated into all engines already in service. [3]
In addition to this, it was found that between the 8th of August and the 12th of September 1973, there had been 15 problems reported about the third engine. [7] The engine had been taken off the aircraft for repairs, and between the time it was replaced and the accident, a further 26 faults had been reported by the pilots. It was found that the bolts that had held the front covering in place, which had failed in the accident, were outside the tolerances laid down. An engineering dispatch was sent out to inspect these engines, and six more discrepancies were found in the National Airlines fleet alone. Therefore, this dispatch was made compulsory for all early DC-10s in order to prevent the issue from occurring again. [7]
The NTSB expressed concern about the cockpit crew conducting an unauthorized experiment on the auto-throttle system. They had been wondering where the system took its engine power readings from and to see if it was the N1 tachometer readout "the flight engineer pulled the three N1 tachometers [circuit breakers]" and then adjusted the autothrottle setting. The cockpit voice recorder proved that the engines altered their power setting when requested, proving to the crew that the system was powered from another source. The crew then manually reset the throttles to the normal cruising power before the flight engineer had closed the tachometer circuit breakers. It was considered whether the crew had accidentally over-speeded the engine when setting power without the tachometers, but there was insufficient evidence to deliver a certain verdict. Nonetheless; "regardless of the cause of the high fan speed at the time of the fan failure, the Safety Board is concerned that the flight crew was, in effect, performing an untested failure analysis on this system. This type of experimentation, without the benefit of training or specific guidelines, should never be performed during passenger flight operations. "[3]
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Air crash
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Fact check: Disease outbreaks don't occur just in U.S. major election years
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“This is such a stretch,” said Kathleen Brown, professor of public health at the University of Tennessee. “There were outbreaks during years of elections but there were also outbreaks in years where there were not elections.” “The author of this (meme) is not telling the whole story,” Brown said. The list of diseases is misleading. SARS , for example, emerged in February 2003, which was not a presidential or congressional election year, and by July 2003 the World Health Organization declared SARS was contained. A trickle of cases continued into May 2004. Only eight people in the United States caught SARS and none died. SARS was given only a passing mention on the Republican Party platform and was not a major election issue. Avian 2008 likely refers to avian flu. The most prevalent avian flu viruses, H5N1 and H9N2, have been detected in both humans and birds for over a decade. Outbreaks of these strains have been tracked as far back as the 1990s to poultry markets in Hong Kong. The WHO reports that periodic outbreaks or isolated cases of H5N1 have persisted since 1996 at low levels more or less uninterrupted. The biggest victims of avian flu are livestock birds. Millions of chickens and geese have been culled in response to avian flu . But it was never an election issue. The disease is mentioned passingly in the 2008 Democratic Party platform as an issue needing international cooperation in Asia. The other diseases listed fare similarly when subjected to scrutiny. Middle East Respiratory Syndrome , or MERS, emerged in 2012, but major outbreaks did not occur until 2015 and 2018. Neither outbreak occurred particularly close to major American elections and most cases were tied directly to human contact with camels. Human-to-human transmission happened only in rare circumstances. Ebola did not first emerge in 2014. Periodic outbreaks of Ebola have been documented since 1976. Zika, similarly, was first detected in humans in Tanzania in 1952 , and slowly spread along the equatorial Pacific until it reached Brazil in 2015. Swine flu peaked in 2009; it spread during normal flu season. More: Fact check: Flu vaccine hasn't eradicated the flu, but it has lessened the burden of the virus “It’s essentially trying to draw a link there that is tenuous at best,” said Sephen Kissler, a postdoctoral immunology researcher at Harvard. He said if the idea is that these illnesses were engineered to align with election years, then “they didn’t do a very good job of doing it.” While Zika and the 2014-16 Ebola outbreak were both mentioned by politicians, in neither case was the disease response brandished as a referendum on the government. The spread of Zika was a research funding issue that crossed party lines . Ebola was wrapped up in broader boarder security or health care funding arguments. Are outbreaks, elections related? The other side of the board lists several claims about COVID-19’s lethality and infectivity. It ends with a statement that COVID-19 is being promoted to manipulate the 2020 elections. The implication is that there is a historic trend of attempting to manipulate election results by fomenting panic regarding diseases. "Coronavirus has a contagion factor of 2. SARS was 4. Measles is 18," the meme states. This meme understates the transmissibility of COVID-19. The number of new cases an average carrier might infect is between 2.5-3.5. This is called the reproduction number, not the “contagion factor.” “The underlying narrative that they are saying here is that COVID is not as bad because its not as contagious,” said Kissler, the immunology researcher. “That’s conflating clinical severity with transmissibility, which is not a useful measure of how severe an illness is.” Kissler explained that Ebola, which can kill 20%-40% of patients depending on the strain, is highly severe but not very transmissible. It has a low reproduction number, but it’s still a serious illness. The meme also depicts a high recovery rate for COVID-19 patients younger than 50, at "99.7%," ignoring the older people who make up the most vulnerable age group. “What about people over 50? Do we stop caring about them? That’s why this (COVID) is so bad,” said Kissler, explaining that it is the severity among people who are older and with underlying conditions that makes COVID-19 so harmful from a broader social perspective. He also said that the meme misunderstands what a death rate means. “There’s a fallacy of numbers here,” he said, “I hear a lot of people saying the fatality rate is 1% like that’s nothing. But that actually means I have a 1 in 100 chance of dying.” “There’s not many things I do where I have a 1:100 chance of dying.” Or put another way. If you know 100 people, you will know at least one person who will die from COVID-19 assuming most people get infected. Where the meme originated This meme has been circulating since late February in some form or another. One version of the meme is the fusion of two related memes, both of which downplay the COVID-19 pandemic and contain conspiratorial undertones. The earliest examples of the list of different diseases come from far-right conspiratorial Twitter accounts. The list of “facts” comes from a conspiracy theorist associated with QAnon, per reporting from the Daily Beast. “If you believe one conspiracy you are more likely to believe any and all conspiracies,” said Matthew Pittman, a professor of advertising at the University of Tennessee. Pittman teaches social media studies classes in the school of journalism. He explained that conspiracy memes operate on the level of emotion and involve a lot of motivated reasoning. “We all like to think of ourselves as rational creatures but we are really emotional,” Pittman said. “We feel first, and we construct our rational later.” More: What is QAnon and where did it come from? What to know about the far-right conspiracy theory It is unclear when the two memes first merged. One early example appears on the Facebook page of a chiropractor based in Pennsylvania. This Facebook page was flagged for COVID-19 misinformation earlier this year and features numerous antivaccine memes. The chiropractor did not respond to USA TODAY’s repeated attempts for comment. Historically the consequences of pandemics are complex and difficult to predict. Some diseases like H1N1 disappeared from the public consciousness when they subsided. But many diseases never go away and their social and political impacts persist. Take the case of HIV/AIDS. Emerging months into the presidency of Ronald Regan, HIV/AIDS would account for 14% of male deaths by 1989. The lack of response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic provoked multiple decades of activism , triggered a realignment of federal disease research policy , and led to the first Supreme Court decision recognizing the rights of gay couples . That pandemic had worldwide political implications . But all of this unfolded over decades and over the terms of both Republican and Democratic administrations. What we've learned about HIV and AIDS 30 years later When HIV exploded in the 1980s, scientists had no idea what was making patients so sick. So, what have scientists figured out since then? We explain. Just the FAQs, USA TODAY Even though many people in developed nations now have access to treatment, the HIV pandemic has never gone away. According to UNAIDS , 1.7 million people acquired HIV in 2019, and 690,000 died that same year. The long-term consequences, from a health, economic and political perspective of COVID-19 are still unknown.
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Disease Outbreaks
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Sun lights up high-latitude countries in ‘a Solar Deepavali’
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The image of the flare (near the disk centre) captured in the AIA 131 channel. The AIA is an extreme ultraviolet imaging telescope attached to NASA's SDO satellite. | Photo Credit: Photo Courtesy CESSI A solar flare that occurred on the Sun triggered a magnetic storm which scientists from Center of Excellence in Space Sciences India (CESSI), in Indian Institutes for Science Education and Research, Kolkata, had predicted will arrive at the Earth in the early hours of November 4, and they said that the magnitude of this storm would be such as to trigger spectacular displays of aurora (the coloured bands of light seen in the North and South poles) in the high-latitude and polar regions, just in time for the Deepavali celebrations in India. This prediction, which was based on models built by them and data from NASA’s observatories, seems to have come true, as people from several countries were tweeting pictures of aurorae. Judging by data from the NASA DSCOVR satellite, the scientists observed a steep jump in transverse magnetic fields, density and speeds of the plasma wind that are tell-tale signatures of the arrival of a coronal mass ejection shock front, according to Dibyendu Nandi of CESSI Kolkata whose team predicted the event. “This happened at 1.00 AM IST. We will know whether this is the CME flux based on its evolution as it passes through. These observations are taken at Lagrange Point L1,” he said on November 4, in a message to The Hindu. Dipankar Banerjee, a solar physicist and Director of Aryabhata Research Institute of Observational Sciences (ARIES) based in Nainital said about the prediction, “This is quite promising. It appears their predictions are matching the observations.” He was not involved in this work. The solar magnetic cycle that works in the deep interior of the Sun creates regions that rise to the surface and appear like dark spots. These are the sunspots. Solar flares are highly energetic phenomena that happen inside the sunspots. In a solar flare, the energy stored in the sun’s magnetic structures is converted into light and heat energy. This causes the emission of high energy x-ray radiation and highly accelerated charged particles to leave the sun’s surface. Sometimes solar flares also cause hot plasma to be ejected from the Sun, causing a solar storm, and this is called Coronal Mass Ejection (CME). Coronal Mass Ejections can harbour energies exceeding that of a billion atomic bombs. The energy and radiation and high energy particles emitted by flares can affect Earth bound objects and life on Earth – it can affect the electronics within satellites and affect astronauts. Very powerful Earth-directed coronal mass ejections can cause failure of power grids and affect oil pipelines and deep-sea cables. They can also cause spectacular aurorae in the high-latitude and polar countries. The last time a major blackout due to a coronal mass ejection was recorded was in 1989 – a powerful geomagnetic storm that took down the North American power grid, plunging large parts of Canada into darkness and triggering spectacular aurorae beyond the polar regions. The process of prediction takes place in two steps: First the researchers analyse the possibility of a strong solar flare from an active region – that is, clusters of sunspots – using a machine learning algorithm which has been developed in CESSI, IISER Kolkata. “This algorithm needs observations of the sunspot magnetic fields, from which we extract various parameters to train the algorithm. We use data from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, specifically, the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager instrument, for this purpose,” says Dibyendu Nandi, who, along with his PhD student Suvadip Sinha, developed the algorithm at CESSI. The second step is estimating the time of arrival on Earth of coronal mass ejections and forecasting the geomagnetic storm. The group uses the near-Sun evolution of the coronal mass ejections through European Space Agency’s SOHO satellite and NASA's STEREO satellite to extract their speed. There is an associated flare, and its position on the Sun is used to extract the location of origin of the CME. The location of the source of the CME and the velocity are used as inputs by the group in a publicly available model widely called the Drag Based Ensemble Model to calculate the CME arrival times and speed. “This latter step has uncertainties as the physics of CME propagation is quite complex, but this is treated in a simplified manner in this model,” explains prof. Nandi. “When ISRO’s Aditya-L1 satellite is launched, we would be receiving similar data on solar storms from this observatory,” he adds. Commenting on the work done by Prof Nandi and group, Dr Banerjee said, “This is their first comprehensive work on this… the basic physics input and the model seems to be robust.” Some have been tweeting pictures of the aurorae seen in places such as Alberta in Canada, and Alaska, to name just a few. Prof Nandi further said, “Reports are already coming in which indicate we hit bull's eye with the prediction. Storm arrived within one hour of our forecast time with similar speeds to what we had estimated. Aurorae are being reported from unexpected countries such as Scotland, Ireland and states in the U.S. apart from the high latitude regions. Now NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center had upgraded the information on the geomagnetic storm resulting from the CME impact to be hazardous.”
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New wonders in nature
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State Route 38 Reopens After Heavy Rains Trigger Mudslide In El Dorado Burn Scar Near Big Bear
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BIG BEAR (CBSLA) — Heavy downpours Friday across the Inland Empire prompted the closure of State Route 38 from Forest Falls to Lake Williams in Big Bear following a rockfall. It was reopened Friday night. ATTN MOTORISTS TO BIG BEAR. SR 38 is expected to be closed all night. Use SR’s 330 and 18 to Big Bear. Access only to Angelus Oaks. Drivers were told to avoid the area and use State Route 18 or State Route 330 instead. Caltrans said the roadway was not expected to reopen until Saturday at the earliest. Caltrans crews continuing clean up on SR 38. Unknown duration for closure. Possibly tomorrow. Use 18 and 330 as alternate routes.
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Mudslides
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famines in China
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This is a list of famines in China. Between 108 BC and 1911 AD, there were no fewer than 1,828 recorded famines in China, or once nearly every year in one province or another. The famines varied in severity. [1][2]
In China famines have been an ongoing problem for thousands of years. From the Shang dynasty (16th-11th century BC) until the founding of modern China, chroniclers have regularly described recurring disasters. There have always been times and places where rains have failed, especially in the northwest of China, and this has led to famine. It was the task of the Emperor of China to provide assistance, as necessary, to famine areas and transport foods from other areas and to distribute them. The reputation of an emperor depended on how he succeeded. National famines occurred even when the drought areas were too large, especially when simultaneously larger areas of flooded rivers were over their banks and thus additionally crop failures occurred, or when the central government did not have sufficient reserves. If an emperor could not prevent a famine, he lost prestige and legitimacy. It was said that he had lost the Mandate of Heaven. Qing China built an elaborate system designed to minimize famine deaths. The system was destroyed in the Taiping Rebellion of the 1850s. [18][19]
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Famine
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Woman, friend arrested for poisoning husband to death
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A 38-year-old woman and her friend have been arrested for allegedly killing her husband by giving food mixed with poison in the Choolaimedu police station limits.
According to the police, K. Selvam, 42, a painter by profession, was living with his wife Vijayalakshmi and their two daughters at Kannagi Street, Choolaimedu. On September 2, Selvam fell unconscious after having food and was admitted in a hospital. He died on September 6, and his relative Veerapandian lodged a complaint alleging foul play in the death. The police registered a case and sent the body for post-mortem examination.
The post-mortem report indicated that Selvam had died after consuming food mixed with pesticide. His wife Vijayalakshmi had gone missing after his death. The police arrested her and her friend Mohan alias Mundakannu ‘Mohan’. During investigation, the police learnt that Vijayalakshmi and Mohan met while travelling on Metro Rail and had an affair. After learning about their affair, Selvam had warned his wife. Our code of editorial values
Printable version | Nov 12, 2021 11:34:31 PM | https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/woman-friend-arrested-for-poisoning-husband-to-death/article36409045.ece
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A one-way trip from Chennai to Delhi costs between ₹7,000 and ₹11,000, depending on the time of the flight
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Mass Poisoning
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• Marcell Jacobs Clocks Italian 100m Record with 9.95 in Savona
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Marcell Jacobs clocked a new Italian 100m record with a stunning 9.95 seconds in the preliminary round at the Meeting Citta di Savona on Thursday (13).
The European indoor champion, Jacobs, broke Filippo Tortu's previous record of 9.99 from 2018. Jacobs time is the 5th fastest in the World this year.
"I knew I was in shape, I can do even better, " Jacobs told Rais Sports.
Jacobs skipped the 100m final which was won by Lorenzo Patta (ITA) who clocked a new personal best time of 10.13 seconds.
World champion Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain dominated her first 200m race of the year clocking 22.56 seconds (wind 0.8ms/).
Marileidy Paulino of the Dominican Republic clocked a new meeting record of 50.71 in the women's 400m.
Filippo Randazzo (ITA) was the winner in the men's long jump with an 8.05m (+0.4m/s) leap in the first round.
Amel Tuka (BIH), the 2017 World championships silver medalist, won the 800m race in his season opener in 1:47.86.
See the results here
#atletica ???????????? MARCELL JACOBS 9.95 RECORD ITALIANO NEI 100 METRI???????????????????????? il VIDEO dell'impresa dell'azzurro a Savona ???????? ???????? ????????@Coninews @ItaliaTeam_it @WorldAthletics @EuroAthletics pic.twitter.com/cja7FStvVe
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Break historical records
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Fire-struck areas made newly vulnerable to mudslides
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After a fire, rain can feel like a refreshing mercy. But it also spells fresh danger in fire-struck areas made newly vulnerable to mudslides. Amidst recovering from the trauma of a wildfire, people in hillside homes across much of the western U.S., in particular, must now be ready to evacuate when threatening heavy rains appear in the forecast. That’s because fires do more to the physical environment than level buildings and fell trees. They also alter the makeup of the soil, making it less likely it will absorb rainwater, especially during a downpour. “The same intensity of rain can generate overland flows more than 10 times greater in areas recently burned compared to those without fire,” Arizona State University (ASU) environmental engineer Mikhail Chester said in Popular Science. To explain why fire-scorched land is more prone to mudslides, and what communities can do about it, let’s begin with the basics. On a typical hillside not recently burned, vegetation helps trap the soil in place. When rain pours down in a major storm, trees, shrubs, grasses, and leaf litter all help protect the soil from a heavy downpour, giving water more time to soak into the ground. As much as 5 years after the raging embers have cooled, resulting mudflows can pose still more threats. But when fire destroys that vegetation, there can be little left to keep soil and sediment from flowing down a steep hill, much less retain water there. What’s more, parched, fire-charred soil can become hydrophobic, which means it actually repels water, just as pavement does. When intense rain falls on water-repellant ground, the water runs downhill quickly – more than double its usual rate – forming a river of mud and other debris. All the while, the expanding flow can pick up whatever it encounters along the way, from mud, rock, and sediment, to larger debris like fallen trees and limbs and boulders, depending on the severity of the rain and vulnerability of the soil. The California Department of Water Resources advises that fast-moving debris flows can rock homes off their foundations and sweep away vehicles, creating life-threatening dangers. The results can be tragic, as was the case in Montecito, California, in 2018, shortly after the deadly Thomas Fire laid bare much of the landscape. A half-inch of rain fell in just 15 minutes, unleashing a debris flow that was an estimated 25 to 30 feet deep, moving at roughly 10-15 mph, and capable of carrying boulders as big as a tow truck. The catastrophe claimed at least 21 lives, destroyed more than 100 homes, and shut down Highway 101, a major north-south route, for almost two weeks. Looking ahead, the likelihood of post-fire debris and mud flow is likely to increase, in large part because climate change is already leading to the intensity of more fires across the West. A joint study by ASU and University of California, Los Angeles researchers found that the chances of post-fire debris flow risk will generally increase as climate change intensifies. To protect people and property from this growing threat, communities should first and foremost be aware of the risks they and their populations face. The California Department of Conservation advises that residents of fire-struck areas be prepared for potential debris flows for as long as two to five years after major fires. From there, communities that have recently experienced wildfire should consider the following safety tips: Take proactive measures to defend against future mudflow. The California Conservation Corps’ Paradise Erosion Control Project is one example of how a community can take preventive actions. There, to mitigate the loss of ground cover caused by the Camp Fire, volunteers placed wattles, sandbags, silt socks, and drainage inlet treatments to help slow runoff and erosion in vulnerable areas around the town of Paradise in the Sierra Nevada foothills above the northeastern Sacramento Valley. As wildfires, flooding, and hurricanes grow more frequent, climate migration begins Colorado State University’s extension service offers more detailed post-fire soil erosion control strategies, ranging from spreading straw mulch to protect soil and reseeding efforts, to creating log terraces that help slow the velocity of the runoff. Like so many other difficult climate-related impacts, the risk of mudslides in fire-scorched areas is a problem more communities will be facing in the years ahead. By staying actively informed and prepared, people in these vulnerable areas can help keep themselves, and their neighbors and communities, ahead of the threat.
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Mudslides
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Union County inmate may receive commutation of life sentence
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Updated: November 17, 2021 @ 11:39 pm A preliminary docket for Columbia County Circuit Court Crimi… The following people have recently been booked into the cust… Byron Hooper may receive a prison sentence commutation. The Union County inmate has been incarcerated since 1990. A Union County inmate may receive a sentence commutation from Governor Asa Hutchinson. Hutchinson announced this week his intent to grant 16 pardons and three commutations. An additional 26 clemency requests were denied. These include requests from both inmates and non-inmates. The applicants intended for pardons have completed all jail time, fulfilled all parole and probationary requirements and paid all fines related to their sentences. There is a 30-day waiting period to receive public feedback on the notices before final action is taken. Governor Hutchinson intends to grant a commutation of sentence to the following South Arkansas inmate: Byron Hooper, Union County, Manufacture, Delivery and Possession of a Controlled Substance (Habitual Offender) (Y Felony) The governor has given notice of his intent to commute the sentence of Byron Hooper, who was convicted in Union County in 1990, from life in the Department of Correction to making him immediately parole eligible. There are no law enforcement objections to the application. Hooper is held at the Varner Unit. Governor Hutchinson intends to grant pardons to the following South Arkansas people: Byron Bowie, Gurdon, Breaking or Entering (D Felony) and Criminal Impersonation (A Misdemeanor) This notice is issued based on the date of conviction (2002 – Clark County and 2004 – Nevada County), the fact that all terms of the applicant’s sentence have been completed and there have been no further criminal-law violations. There are no law enforcement objections to the application. Shalanda Crite, Arkadelphia, Fraudulent Use of a Credit Card (C Felony) This notice is issued based on the date of conviction (1999 – Clark County), the fact that all terms of the applicant’s sentence have been completed and there have been no further felony criminal-law violations. There are no law enforcement objections to the application. Charles M. Lester, Hope, Theft of Property (Felony) and Possession of a Controlled Substance (U Felony) This notice is issued based on the dates of conviction (1991 – Hempstead County and 1995 – Hempstead County), the fact that all terms of the applicant’s sentence have been completed and there have been no further criminal-law violations. There are no law enforcement objections to the application. Janelle Martin, Springhill, LA, Attempt to Manufacture Methamphetamine (A Felony), Possession of Drug Paraphernalia w/Intent to Manufacture (B Felony), Possession of Ephedrine (D Felony), Maintaining a Drug Premise (D Felony), Possession of Meth (C Felony) and Possession of Drug Paraphernalia (C Felony). This notice is issued based on the date of conviction (2005 – Pulaski County), the fact that all terms of the applicant’s sentence have been completed and there have been no further criminal-law violations. There are no law enforcement objections to the application. In Arkansas, the Parole Board has the authority to assist the governor in exercising his authority to grant pardons and commutations. A commutation is a reduction in a sentence imposed by a court. It may mean either a lesser term of imprisonment, or reduces a sentence to time served. A pardon is an act of forgiveness issued by the governor for a crime that has been committed. It may be issued to people either in or out of prison. Commutation or pardon requests deemed by the Parole Board as “With Merit” are formal recommendations to the governor in favor of the request. “Without Merit” recommendations indicate that the board does not approve of the inmate or parolee’s request. The governor has the authority to accept or reject either Parole Board recommendation.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence
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Counting Crows cancel Boston concert hours before start
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By Mia McCarthy The American rock band Counting Crows canceled their Boston concert on Sunday – only hours before the show – after a touring party member tested positive for COVID-19. The Boston concert was originally scheduled Sunday night at the Leader Bank Pavilion at 7 p.m. and is part of the band’s “Butter Miracle Tour.” The group made the announcement on Twitter and said they are postponing the concert “out of an abundance of caution.” Their next show, which is on Tuesday in Youngstown, Ohio, was also postponed. “Hang on to your tickets as they will be honored for the new dates, once announced,” the band wrote in a tweet. “The entire band and crew has been vaccinated and has taken great precautions to be as safe as possible.” Five hours before the cancelation, Counting Crows posted pictures on Twitter from their show in Atlantic City on Saturday night, the first concert of the tour. “Feels so good to be back!” the band wrote. “Thanks for helping us kick off the #ButterMiracleTour, Atlantic City. See you soon, Boston!”
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Organization Closed
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Washington tribe's tsunami evacuation tower could become model for the nation
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The tower in Tokeland will be available in an emergency to tribal members and non-tribal residents who live off the reservation at the southern end of the peninsula. Author: Glenn Farley Published: 5:50 PM PDT May 17, 2021 Updated: 6:54 AM PDT May 18, 2021 TOKELAND, Wash. — Ceremonial groundbreaking and land clearing for the first dedicated tsunami evacuation tower has begun in the coastal community of Tokeland on land belonging to the Shoalwater Bay Indian Tribe. The tower will be available in an emergency to tribal members and non-tribal residents who live off the reservation at the southern end of the peninsula. With its expected completion by the end of 2021, it becomes the second or third tsunami evacuation structure in Washington state and even in North America. Washington is leading North America in tsunami evacuation structures. In 2017, the Ocosta School District opened a new school where a local bond issue paid for incorporating the ability to provide refuge from tsunami waves. Urgency to save lives in coastal communities is building as scientists learn more about the dangers along Washington’s coast from a subduction zone earthquake. Subduction zone earthquakes trigger tsunamis. The most visible and well-documented example of which happened in March 2011 in northeastern Japan – a disaster that killed more than 16,000 people by some estimates with the vast majority of lives lost to tsunami waves. Washington’s last subduction zone earthquake was recorded in January 1700, documented in part by the Japanese who recorded a tsunami that wiped out coastal villages but had no apparent cause that anybody felt in Japan. Tribal stories, including those told within the Shoalwater Tribe, also speak of a great flood. Tree ring data found in dead trees on the Washington and Oregon coasts along with sand deposits trapped in mud also help date this and other tsunamis, some of which occurred less than 300 years apart. RELATED: Ghost forest reveals clues to the Cascadia Subduction Zone’s last earthquake The location of the tower is about two blocks from the beach on the low-lying peninsula where Tokeland sits. Tribal members and others already have an option to reach a high bluff at the north end of their community, but the peninsula is too long for many people to be able to reach naturally higher ground by foot. The use of cars is considered tricky, as the earthquake likely to measure as magnitude 9 could well destroy and block roads. Emergency managers say people should wait to move until the earthquake shaking stops and may have as little as 15 to 20 minutes before the first tsunami wave arrives. In Tokeland, the Washington Geological Survey says there could be as much as 30 minutes, with wave heights reaching as high as 16 feet above ground level at the tower site. Pilings to support the tower and resist a type of soil instability caused by the shaking are expected to go down 50 feet. Lee Shipman, a tribal member and now-retired head of the tribe’s emergency management office, got the process to build the tower rolling as the tribe began raising $1 million toward construction. Shoalwater Bay’s efforts along with Washington State Emergency Management brought in Region X of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which provided another $2.5 million in grant money for construction. That collaboration led to a process to get more towers funded and built, and currently, the larger communities of Ocean Shores and Westport are moving forward with their own plans for multiple towers to protect their populations.
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Tsunamis
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United Express Flight 2415 crash
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United Express Flight 2415 was a regularly scheduled flight in the northwest United States from Seattle to Pasco, Washington, operated using a BAe Jetstream 31. [1] Late on Tuesday, December 26, 1989, Flight 2415 crashed while attempting to land at Pasco's Tri-Cities Airport, killing both pilots and all four passengers aboard. [2][3][4]
North Pacific Airlines, operating as United Express, operated Flight 2415 as a regularly scheduled flight from Seattle to Pasco, with an intermediate stop in Yakima. On the night of the accident, Flight 2415 was operated using a BAe Jetstream 31 twin-turboprop airliner, registration number N410UE. [1]:9 The aircraft was manufactured two years earlier in October 1987, and had accumulated approximately 4,972 flight hours at the time of the accident. [1]:9 The aircraft was not equipped with a ground proximity warning system[1]:31 and did not have a cockpit voice recorder or flight data recorder. [1]:13[2]
The captain was 38-year-old Barry W. Roberts. He had 6,600 flight hours, including 670 hours on the Jetstream. The first officer was 25-year-old Douglas K. McInroe, who had 2,792 flight hours with 213 of them on the Jetstream. [1]:5–9,62
Flight 2415 departed Seattle at 20:45 PST, and arrived at Yakima with no reported mechanical difficulties. [1]:1 A company station agent at Yakima witnessed First Officer McInroe knocking ice off the wings of the aircraft, with the assistance of another company first officer. The station agent asked Captain Roberts whether he wanted his aircraft deiced, but the captain declined. [1]:1 The station agent also asked if the captain wanted Flight 2415's tail deiced, since the first officers deicing the wings would be unable to reach the tail surfaces. Roberts declined this as well. [1]:1–2[5] Flight 2415 was the only flight to depart Yakima that afternoon/evening that was not deiced prior to departure. [1]:2
At 21:59, air traffic controllers at the Yakima tower announced that Yakima airport was closed due to weather conditions. [1]:2 However, at 22:00, Flight 2415 contacted Yakima ground controllers and were cleared to proceed to Yakima's runway 27 for departure. Ground controllers advised Flight 2415 of "light to moderate mixed icing" between 4,000 and 18,000 feet (1,200 and 5,500 m), which Flight 2415 acknowledged. [1]:2 At 22:01, Flight 2415 departed Yakima en route to Pasco, and climbed to a cruising altitude of 11,000 feet (3,400 m). [1]:2–3
At 22:26, Flight 2415 was cleared for an Instrument Landing System (ILS) approach to runway 21R at Pasco's Tri-Cities Airport. [1]:3 Conversations between Flight 2415 and controllers were normal in the minutes leading up to the crash, and no distress call was made. [6]
At 22:30, while Flight 2415 was on final approach, the Pasco tower controller observed Flight 2415 flying "higher than normal" for a final approach, and also descending faster than normal. [1]:5 The controller watched Flight 2415 descend until it struck the ground 400 feet (120 m) short of runway 21R. The controller alerted emergency response crews, who arrived at the crash site at 22:34;[1]:5 the aircraft was destroyed, and there were no survivors. [1]:5
The accident was investigated by the National Transportation Safety Board. Investigators determined that the airplane was flying well above the glideslope for an ILS approach. [1]:40 From the plane's last recorded position, investigators determined that Flight 2415 would need to follow a 7-degree glidepath in order to descend rapidly enough to reach the runway threshold. [1]:40 This is more than twice the glidepath angle for an ILS approach and would have required a high descent rate of 2,000 to 3,000 feet (610 to 915 m) per minute. [1]:40 Investigators also determined that ice had likely built up on the plane's wings during the flight,[4] creating a higher risk of a stall at low speeds. [1]:40 According to radar data, Flight 2415 had slowed to 110 knots (205 km/h; 125 mph) as it attempted to descend. The combination of an excessively steep descent, low speed, and aircraft icing likely resulted in loss of control of the aircraft. [1]:40[5]
On November 4, 1991, the NTSB issued its final report on the crash, which contained the following conclusions:[1]:47
The National Transportation Safety Board determines that the probable cause of this accident was the flightcrew's decision to continue an unstabilized instrument landing system approach that led to a stall, most likely of the horizontal stabilizer, and loss of control at low altitude. Contributing to the accident was the air traffic controller's improper vectors that positioned the airplane inside the outer marker while it was still well above the glideslope. Contributing to the stall and loss of control was the accumulation of airframe ice that degraded the aerodynamic performance of the airplane.
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Air crash
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1961 European Cup Winners' Cup Final
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The 1960–61 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup club football tournament was won by Italian club Fiorentina in two-legged final victory against Rangers of Scotland. Organised by the Mitropa Cup committee, this tournament's edition was recognised by UEFA in 1963, after lobbying by the Italian Football Federation. [1]
This was the first season that the tournament took place for the winners of each European country's domestic cup, and was the only one to be decided in a two-legged final. Only ten sides entered the competition,[2] partially due to the low expectations for the new tournament among association football fans,[1] and also to the unofficial nature of this edition. It is a myth that the low number of entrants was due to few countries already having a domestic cup competition:[1] as happened for the first edition of the European Cup, entrance criteria could be changed by each national federation. Fiorentina entered as runners-up to Juventus in both Coppa Italia and Serie A, Czechoslovakia sent the winners of an unofficial League Cup, and both Hungary and East Germany enrolled their league runners-up. Rangers won 5–4 on aggregate. Rudá Hvězda Brno won 3–2 on aggregate. Rangers won 11–0 on aggregate. Wolverhampton Wanderers won 5–2 on aggregate. Fiorentina won 9–2 on aggregate. Dinamo Zagreb won 2–0 on aggregate. Rangers won 3–1 on aggregate. Fiorentina won 4–2 on aggregate. Fiorentina won 4–1 on aggregate.
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Sports Competition
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Getting out of the World Health Organization might not be as easy as Trump thinks
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US funding has helped the World Health Organization tackle Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo. US President Donald Trump’s decision, announced on 29 May, to withdraw funding from the World Health Organization (WHO) was never in doubt. Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, the White House has been intensifying its charge that the WHO was slow to respond to the threat, and overly influenced by China. Undoubtedly, the agency has lessons to learn, and, at the World Health Assembly last month, WHO member states endorsed an independent evaluation. It is irresponsible and dangerous for the United States — the WHO’s largest donor — to bypass the agreed process and withhold roughly US$450 million in annual funding in the middle of one of the worst pandemics in recent history. This will undermine the world’s efforts to control the new coronavirus and will endanger more lives as COVID-19 continues on its destructive path. The chances that the US decision could be reversed at this stage are slim, but there is a small window of time, during which everything possible must be tried. There is too much at stake not to do so. The United States was among the biggest champions for establishing an international agency to assist countries in rebuilding national health systems after the Second World War. Since then, the United States’ compulsory and voluntary financial contributions have enabled the WHO to carry out life-saving work in low- and middle-income countries and regions — for example, in treating Ebola, HIV and polio. And US public-health researchers and policymakers are embedded in the organization’s many research and policy-making bodies. US researchers are also members of many of the WHO’s scientific-advisory groups, including those on COVID-19. And US institutions, especially the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, work with the WHO by hosting what are called collaborating centres. One such centre, which has partners in Australia, China, Japan and the United Kingdom, monitors influenza and helps to design flu vaccines. The US presence in the WHO was important to the reform, in 2005, of the International Health Regulations, under which countries are obliged to accurately report outbreaks, cases and deaths. The regulations needed strengthening because under-reporting had been a feature of past disease outbreaks, resulting in lost lives. The authors of these regulations could not have imagined that a US president would promote and then justify collecting inaccurate data. Trump did so at a rally on 20 June, when he said he had asked officials to go slow on coronavirus testing — a clear breach of these regulations. Researchers are debating what form the US withdrawal will take, and how quickly it could happen. Funding that has been given cannot be taken back; nor can voluntary contributions that have been pledged in advance. And the WHO’s founding constitution lacks a provision for countries to withdraw. Under a resolution passed by both US houses of Congress in 1948, the United States must give one year’s notice and pay any outstanding funds if it wishes to leave. Whether the White House will be bound by this, and what powers Congress has to enforce its earlier decision, are a matter of debate. But, as far as the WHO constitution is concerned, countries that join remain members. Those interviewed for this editorial — researchers in international law and public health, WHO advisers and members of other multilateral processes — agree that a member state cannot be compelled to stay. The Soviet Union famously led a walkout of Eastern bloc countries from the WHO in 1949 owing to concerns that the United States was too dominant, and these countries returned only after the death of Joseph Stalin in 1953. But the absence of a formal withdrawal mechanism allowed the WHO’s first director-general, Canada’s Brock Chisholm, to classify the Soviet membership as ‘inactive’ rather than ‘withdrawn’. Something similar could happen now, creating a path for the eventual return of the United States should it leave. The United Nations did eventually create rules — the 1969 Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and its 1986 extension — that cover how countries can exit a multilateral organization from which there is no provision to withdraw. But the United States is among those that have not ratified these agreements, a decision that the White House might come to regret. Leave to remain Trump’s decision to withdraw from the WHO seems to follow a pattern of behaviour that includes the 2017 decision to leave the UN’s science-cooperation agency UNESCO, and his ending of US involvement in the Iran nuclear deal. But this latest move is different in one important respect: some influential voices in Trump’s own Republican Party are urging him to reconsider. That represents an audience for researchers, research institutions, industry and health campaigners to work with, to highlight the dangers of a US exit. Lawmakers must be pressed to reverse this dangerous decision, or, at the very least, to ensure that any outstanding dues are paid and that the one-year period of notice before withdrawal is respected. If the United States wants to improve the WHO, it needs to back both the independent evaluation, as other WHO member states have done, and implementation of recommended changes — not turn its back entirely. If, as seems probable, the Trump administration does order a swift withdrawal, the WHO’s constitutional duty is to keep the country’s seat, so that the United States can quickly return when a future leader makes a wiser choice.
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Withdraw from an Organization
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Body of second miner recovered from Cargill salt mine, identities released
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and last updated 2020-12-17 21:11:30-05
AVERY ISLAND, La. — On Wednesday, December 16, the Iberia Parish Coroner's Office identified the two miners killed Monday during a roof collapse at the Cargill salt mine on Avery Island.
The two were identified as 27-year-old Lance Begnaud, II of Broussard and 41-year-old Rene Romero, Jr. of New Iberia.
Martin & Castille Funeral Home have announced that funeral services for Begnaud will be held Saturday, Dec. 19 in Lafayette.
Mine rescue teams announced the recovery of the body of one missing miner on Tuesday morning.
Cargill issued a statement on Wednesday about the recovery of the second miner's body:
"On Tuesday evening, the rescue team recovered the second of the two missing miners who was also fatally injured in the accident at our Avery Island mine. Our hearts are broken for our colleagues and their families. To respect their privacy, we will not be sharing further details about the employees at this time. We continue to offer both families support and extend our deepest condolences for their loss.
We care about our teammates and have professional grief counselors on site at our facility who will be available to our team as needed. The safety and well-being of our colleagues is our top priority. We are grieving with the community as we face this loss together.
As rescue efforts have concluded, we now focus on completing our investigation in coordination with the Mine Health and Safety Administration to better understand what caused the accident. We are committed to learning from this tragedy and remain unwavering in our dedication to safe operations."
Early Monday morning, Cargill’s Avery Island salt mine experienced a roof collapse. Two employees were unaccounted for, while all 16 other employees working that shift were evacuated with no injuries reported.
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Mine Collapses
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Taming the stagflationary winds
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Regulators should use the bank capital framework to improve the resiliency of the financial system to climate-related risks. Advancing Racial Equity and Justice, Building an Economy for All, Strengthening Public Health and Ending the Pandemic, Tackling Climate Change and Environmental Injustice, Climate Change, Economy, Energy, Energy and Environment Director, Media Relations jcusick@americanprogress.org Director, Media Relations cseeberger@americanprogress.org Associate Director, Media Relations shananel@americanprogress.org Manager, State and Local Government Affairs loduyeru@americanprogress.org Director, Government Affairs pgordon@americanprogress.org Director, Government Affairs mshepherd@americanprogress.org Deputy Director, State and Local Government Affairs jparshall@americanprogress.org The climate crisis has profound implications for every sector of the economy, every corner of society, and every aspect of public policy. Several years ago, it may have been acceptable for U.S. financial regulators to brush climate change aside as an issue left to other government departments and agencies. Today, improved data and climate-risk economic analysis, coupled with strong international consensus, make it untenable for financial regulators to ignore the critical nexus of climate change and the financial system. Even some of the conservative regulators appointed by President Donald Trump now view climate change as an important priority that falls within their remit.1 Sign Up This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Attention has rightfully shifted from merely identifying and analyzing climate risk to actively addressing it through regulatory and supervisory levers.2 There are a range of policy levers that regulators could use under existing authority to mitigate climate-related financial risks and ensure the financial system serves as a source of strength to the economy during the clean energy transition. Regulators could use disclosure rules to help investors and the public better understand the climate-related risks faced by financial institutions and corporations more broadly, as well as these organizations’ contributions to the climate crisis.3 They could integrate climate risk into fiduciary requirements and require investment advisers to develop and implement sustainable investment policies. From credit rating agency oversight to using the Community Reinvestment Act to drive mitigation and adaptation investments in communities of color, there are many other policies that financial regulators could deploy to green the financial system. Moreover, Congress could go even further than financial regulators’ significant, but constrained, authority and more directly phase out fossil fuel financing in an orderly fashion to mitigate these risks.4 One of the most powerful tools in financial regulators’ arsenal is the bank capital framework, and it should be at the heart of efforts to improve the resilience of the financial system to climate-related risks. Capital requirements dictate the level of equity—stock and retained earnings—banks must use to fund their assets, thereby restricting the amount of debt, or leverage, they can employ. Since equity capital does not have the same type of contractual repayment requirements as debt, it can be used to absorb losses in times of financial difficulty. Strong capital requirements help ensure banks can weather periods of stress while continuing to provide the credit and payment services upon which businesses and households rely. A banking system with too little capital is fragile and prone to crises that cause severe damage to workers, communities, and the broader economy. This report advances a strategy for integrating climate risk into the capital framework—a strategy that deploys the type of cautious approach to financial stability that justifies vigorous and proactive action now, while acknowledging that some additional valuable—but more intricate—policies may take longer to develop and implement. Specifically, there are five capital-related steps financial regulators should take to mitigate climate-related financial risks: The policy recommendations included in this report can all be implemented under existing statutory authority, as Congress has granted the banking regulators broad discretion to develop capital standards that they deem appropriate.5 Stronger capital rules for climate exposures would increase the capacity of the banking system to withstand future climate-related losses, limiting the chances of a climate-driven banking crisis and positioning the banking system to support economywide decarbonization. Moreover, higher capital requirements for certain carbon-intensive financial activities would require banks to internalize the systemic costs their activities are placing on the financial system and broader economy, while providing meaningful social benefits to the economy by further lowering the chances of distress in the financial system. Physical risks and transition risks are the two primary transmission channels through which climate change could impair financial institutions and markets. Physical risks stem from the increase in frequency and severity of extreme weather events and long-term environmental changes.6 More frequent and brutal wildfires, floods, hurricanes, droughts, and other extreme weather events threaten to damage physical assets and could impair the value of associated financial assets. For example, sea-level rise and extreme weather could cause significant losses for a commercial real-estate (CRE) company with damaged or possibly unusable properties along the coast. If the company is unable to meet its financial obligations due to the repair costs and lost tenant cash flows, it could then transmit losses to commercial mortgage-backed securities investors or banks with CRE loans on their balance sheets. Transition risks refer to the potential impact that clean energy technological advancements, shifts in consumer and investor sentiment, and inevitable policy interventions can have on risky carbon-intensive financial exposures.7 For example, in anticipation of policies that restrict and raise the cost of emissions, investors could severely reprice carbon-intensive financial instruments, triggering losses for exposed financial institutions and investors. These risks have both microprudential and macroprudential implications. Microprudential risks involve the safety and soundness of individual financial firms. Climate change poses varying degrees of credit, market, liquidity, reputational, and operational risks to banks depending on the types of assets they hold and the geographic location of those assets, as well as the geographic location of the bank’s operations. A bank that finances agricultural loans could face losses if droughts, floods, and pests decrease the crop yield for a farmer who then cannot meet her financial obligations. A bank that focuses on reserve-based lending to oil and gas exploration and production companies could face losses if hydrocarbon reserves are devalued as a result of the clean energy transition, increasing both the likelihood of default on the loan and the loss to the bank if the loan does, in fact, default. Macroprudential risks concern the stability of the financial system as a whole. From a macroprudential standpoint, the Federal Reserve has developed a framework that analyzes risks to financial stability that stem from both shocks and vulnerabilities.8 Shocks are endogenous or exogenous events that trigger losses or create disruptions for the financial system, such as a cyberattack, a trade war, or the bursting of an asset price bubble. Vulnerabilities in the financial system are structural characteristics that could amplify and transmit the negative impact of shocks, such as leverage, interconnectedness, inflated asset valuations, and short-term funding. Climate change has implications for both types of macroprudential considerations, as it will drive more frequent and severe physical shocks and as the transition to a low-carbon economy could create shocks for carbon-intensive assets.9 Climate change also contributes to structural vulnerabilities for the financial system. For example, asset prices exposed to physical or transition risks are likely inflated due to opacity, underestimation of the risk, and the potentially correlated nature of the risks.10 As a result, financial institutions exposed to these assets could be more leveraged than they presently appear.11 As the original authors of this financial stability dichotomy admit, the line between shocks and vulnerabilities can be blurry.12 Inflated asset values for carbon-intensive assets are a vulnerability, while the bursting of the carbon bubble would be a shock. Climate change rises to the level of a systemic threat given the magnitude of the risk, the wide array of financial firms with exposure to the risk, and the speed with which losses could materialize. If climate-related transition shocks or physical shocks cause severe losses at a systemically important financial institution or correlated losses among smaller financial firms, stress could be propagated throughout the financial system. Such a situation could trigger fire sales of impaired assets and creditor runs from exposed institutions, as well as create contagion—all of which would infect other financial institutions and markets that were not directly exposed to the initial climate event. A particularly troubling financial stability scenario could entail the materialization of both physical shocks and transition shocks in rapid succession. A brutal string of unprecedented natural disasters could spur idling policymakers to finally act aggressively to stabilize global temperatures. The more time that elapses without robust policy efforts to facilitate the clean energy transition, the more likely it becomes that this transition is conducted in a disorderly fashion to meet emissions targets. Under such a scenario, the financial system could face severe physical losses from the extreme weather events and losses related to the repricing of high-carbon assets almost simultaneously. It’s important to note that physical and transition shocks, and an abrupt repricing of affected assets, could also be triggered by the anticipation of physical and transition events—before any such event actually occurs. Climate-related financial sector vulnerabilities such as inflated asset valuations and excessive leverage would exacerbate the severity of these shocks and the extent to which they are amplified and transmitted throughout the financial system. Another macroprudential concern, short of a systemic crisis, is that physical and transition risk-related losses could chronically erode the resilience of financial institutions over time and leave the system vulnerable to other shocks. One of the most important lessons policymakers should have learned from the 2008 financial crisis is the importance of deploying a precautionary principle when regulating the financial system. As Professor Hilary Allen describes it, “This principle is essentially a more sophisticated version of the old adage, ‘better safe than sorry,’ counseling regulators to err on the side of regulating an activity when the outcome of that activity is uncertain, but potentially irreversible and catastrophic.”13 In the run-up to the 2008 crisis, many policymakers assumed financial crises were a thing of the past and did not cast a skeptical eye toward the development of new complex financial products and systemic interconnections.14 A laissez-faire deregulatory approach, the opposite of the precautionary principle, dominated the three decades leading up to the crisis and set the stage for the resulting catastrophe. Regulators must have humility about their ability to predict the precise causes and complex effects of financial crises, which are high-impact and low-probability events that carry substantial inherent uncertainty. Regulators must act to ensure the financial system is resilient to extreme, but plausible, tail-risk scenarios. The severe and lasting economic and social damage wrought by instability in the financial system warrants this type of precautionary approach to regulation—one that favors proactive and robust safeguards in the face of uncertain, but potentially catastrophic, risks. Certainty regarding the near-term private costs of regulation and uncertainty regarding the precise value of social benefits—which are no doubt to be large in magnitude—should not unduly hamstring regulators. Climate-related financial risks are a special case that warrants a particularly proactive approach.15 Climate change is itself a high-impact and high-probability occurrence. It is clear that climate change will have, and is having, significant negative effects on the planet, economy, and financial system. There is no doubt about the likelihood of climate change and no doubt about the general magnitude of its damaging impacts under various warming scenarios. It is also clear that the transition to a low-carbon economy, necessary to stabilize global temperatures, is going to affect financial institutions and markets, depending on in how orderly a manner such a transition is executed. There is significant uncertainty, however, regarding the timeline of climate-related financial stability risks; the precise magnitude of the economic value at risk; and the exact manifestation of those risks on a range of financial assets, markets, and institutions. The answers to many of these questions hinge on emissions going forward and the resulting warming pathway, as well as the future actions taken by policymakers, technological advancements, and shifts in market sentiment. The uncertainty is also fueled by difficulties modeling climate change and its impacts, including its nonlinear nature, the existence of tipping points, and the interactions with complex environmental systems.16 It is clear, however, that climate-related risks could have a catastrophic impact on financial institutions and markets, and ultimately disrupt financial stability. Moreover, regulators globally have only started to collect the data necessary to carefully evaluate these risks and are just now engaging with scientists and climate economists to gain their insights. It would be quite easy for financial regulators to spend the next decade collecting more data, researching the issue, improving modeling approaches, and better mapping climate-related risks onto the financial system—avoiding any actual steps to safeguard the financial system from these risks. It’s true that all of the aforementioned actions are critical and necessary, but regulators should not allow uncertainty surrounding precise climate effects or the exact future course of the clean energy transition to halt action today.17 The potential damage to the financial system is too great for regulators to wait, and a significant level of uncertainty will persist given the complex nature of this risk. These risks are only intensifying, and the perfect cannot be the enemy of the good. As Federal Reserve Governor Lael Brainard recently stated: Despite the challenges, it will be critical to make progress, even if initially imperfect, in order to ensure that financial institutions are resilient to climate-related financial risks and well-positioned for the opportunities associated with the transition to a more sustainable economy.18 Regulators know enough about climate-related risks, their causes, and potential consequences to take some powerful immediate steps to safeguard the financial system from this impending risk. The longer regulators wait, the higher the potential costs. While a granular cost-benefit analysis is not possible, it is clear that the long-term social benefits of meaningfully reducing the likelihood of a climate-driven financial crisis far exceed the relatively minor private costs that come with stronger financial regulation. Strong financial regulatory policies that bolster the resilience of the financial system to climate-related risks would be a form of financial stability insurance. Some commentators have argued that focusing on climate change could threaten financial regulators’ independence and credibility (particularly the Federal Reserve’s), as well as democratic legitimacy.19 Members of the Fed’s Board of Governors appointed by both Democrats and Republicans now agree that climate change intersects with the agency’s statutory mandates.20 The evidence is clear that climate-related risks have both microprudential and macroprudential implications for financial institutions and markets.21 A failure to evaluate and mitigate these risks simply because some members of one political party in Congress deny the existence of the underlying source of the risk would be the real threat to the Fed’s independence and credibility. The Fed should not let fear of political backlash prevent it from executing its mission. The Fed and other financial regulators are not charged with “solving climate change,” and proponents of aggressive climate-related financial regulatory action do not make such a claim. Tackling the climate crisis requires an all-of-government approach. Agencies across the policy spectrum, including financial regulators, must act to address climate-related issues that fall within their respective jurisdictions. Integrating climate considerations into financial regulatory and supervisory frameworks isn’t a silver bullet, but it’s a necessary step to mitigate the devastating economic effects wrought by climate change. These actions would also put the financial system in a position of strength to facilitate economywide decarbonization and limit the chances that the much-needed clean energy transition instead destabilizes the financial system. International regulators have acknowledged the severity of these climate-related risks and the need for financial regulators to act. The Network for Greening the Financial System (NGFS) was established in December 2017 by eight central banks as a coordinating body for those central banks and supervisors committed to tackling climate-related financial risks.22 Since then, NGFS membership has expanded to 90 members and 13 observers, representing more than 85 percent of global gross domestic product and the vast majority of the world’s systemically important financial institutions.23 Many NGFS members have begun to adapt their core regulatory and supervisory frameworks accordingly. The United States, however, remains painfully behind. The Federal Reserve announced that it finally joined the NGFS in December 2020, but it remains the only federal financial regulator from the United States to have joined the coalition.24 The lack of engagement on this issue internationally undermines the U.S. role as a leader both on climate policy and financial services policy. U.S. federal regulators have not yet taken any meaningful steps to embed climate risk considerations into their regulatory and supervisory frameworks. To the contrary, some Trump-appointed regulators actually advanced policies that would actively prevent financial institutions from accounting for climate risk.25 There are a range of policy tools that regulators should use under existing authority to bolster the resilience of the financial system to climate-related risks and to prevent financial institutions from further exacerbating these risks.26 One less-discussed, but powerful, regulatory tool that should be part of such an agenda is the bank capital framework—arguably the most important pillar of banking regulation. There are several ways climate risk should be integrated into bank capital requirements, as outlined in the following sections. The problem: Financial assets tied to the fossil fuel sector could lose significant value as the economy decarbonizes and transitions to a reliance on clean energy. Transition-related losses could threaten the safety and soundness of banks that are invested in fossil fuel assets, posing risks to public funds and the communities served by the banks. The solution: Regulators should increase the risk weights for fossil fuel assets in the capital framework so banks have to fund these riskier exposures with more loss-absorbing equity capital and less debt. The exact increase in risk weights for a range of different fossil fuel assets should be determined by the level of revenue the borrower or counterparty derives from fossil fuel-related activities; the different transition risk intensities among oil, gas, and coal; the length of the exposure; and other variables. In order to stabilize global temperatures and mitigate the chances of catastrophic climate impacts on the planet, climate policymakers have to take legal and regulatory steps to drastically decrease greenhouse gas emissions. The Paris Agreement, signed by the United States and more than 190 parties in 2015, aims to limit global temperatures to well below 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels, and ideally 1.5 degrees Celsius.27 The Paris Agreement also commits signatories to aligning finance flows with the low-carbon transition. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s special report in 2018 underscored the imperative to keep warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius, given the severe consequences associated with even 2 degrees Celsius of warming.28 The scientific projections suggest that global emissions must reach net zero by 2050 to plausibly hit the 1.5-degree target.29 Achieving these climate goals will require a fundamental restructuring of the economy. This low-carbon transition isn’t several decades away. In many respects it has already begun, but further robust policy changes are required in the near term to hit these targets. Emissions must decline by at least 45 percent from 2010 levels by 2030 to remain on track.30 The United States presently derives roughly 20 percent of its energy from clean sources, while 80 percent is derived from fossil fuels.31 President Joe Biden has committed to putting the United States on a path to achieve 100 percent clean energy by 2050.32 Financial regulators are not responsible for setting climate policy, but they do have a responsibility to prepare the financial system for the financial impacts triggered by the large-scale decarbonization of the economy. If policymakers implement the legal and regulatory actions necessary to meet these emission and temperature targets, banks whose risky carbon-intensive balance sheets do not align with the transition could face significant losses. Financial instruments tied to carbon-intensive sectors, such as fossil fuel companies, fossil-driven utilities, transportation, agriculture, chemical and metal production, and mining, could face a severe repricing as policies restrict and raise the costs of emissions. Companies engaged in high-carbon activities would face increased costs and the potential for fully or partially stranded assets.33 For example, the implementation of rigorous energy efficiency standards and other policy interventions that limit emissions would severely diminish the value of hydrocarbon reserves. According to one estimate, 80 percent of current coal reserves, 50 percent of gas reserves, and 33 percent of oil reserves would have to remain unused to have a 50 percent chance of keeping warming below 2 degrees Celsius.34 Those figures would be even higher under a 1.5-degree warming target. Fossil fuel companies would have to write down the value of those fully or partially stranded assets on their balance sheets, impairing their financial condition and reducing their ability to meet their financial obligations. This dynamic would create losses for their equity investors, creditors, and counterparties, including banks. Moreover, bank loans to fossil fuel companies are often secured by hydrocarbon reserves. Transition-related risks can therefore increase the likelihood of default on a loan, as well as the loss to the bank if the loan does default, since the collateral would lose value.35 This risk is not theoretical, as companies are beginning to face the prospects of transition-related write-downs. For example, BP wrote down $17.5 billion in assets in June 2020 after lowering its long-term fossil fuel price assumptions, and Total SE took a $7 billion hit on Canadian oil sands assets in July 2020.36 Regulators are also increasingly requiring fossil fuel companies to post additional financial resources to cover the eventual retirement costs associated with safely decommissioning their assets.37 This type of collateral requirement is intended to limit the chances that fossil fuel companies create stranded liabilities by leaving the decommissioning costs to the government after the company fails. Requiring companies to appropriately bear these costs upfront, instead of letting the public foot the bill later, will likely speed up the stranding of assets and further strain their financial condition.38 The magnitude of potential financial losses and the prospect for broader stability issues in the banking system increase if the transition is disorderly. Under such a scenario, policymakers would slow-walk the actions necessary to meet emission and temperature targets, before eventually taking more aggressive and rapid actions to make up for lost time. Financial losses in the energy sector alone could reach $1 trillion to $4 trillion, depending on the extent to which the transition is disorderly.39 Taking a broader view of transition-related risks, an estimate from the International Renewable Energy Agency suggests an abrupt and disorderly transition could cause upward of $20 trillion in financial losses.40 Technological advancements and changes in investor sentiments could also quickly trigger many of these dynamics in advance of any actual legal or regulatory changes. In either an orderly or a disorderly scenario, banks with overly risky balance sheets that are not aligned with a low-carbon economy could face severe losses, increasing risks to the economy, communities, the Deposit Insurance Fund, and other public funds. Research suggests that the direct and indirect exposures to carbon-intensive sectors could propagate stress throughout the financial system and trigger broader instability in the banking system.41 Banking regulators should ensure that banks are resilient to the heightened credit, market, operational, reputational, and liquidity risks created by the clean energy transition and are well-positioned to meet the needs of a low-carbon economy.42 Immediate financial regulatory action can help prevent the carbon bubble from bursting suddenly, an event that former Governor of the Bank of England Mark Carney has referred to as a “climate ‘Minsky moment.’”43 As an early and important step toward that end, banking regulators should increase the risk-weighted capital requirements for the bank exposures facing the most acute transition-related risks. Accounting for severe transition risks in the capital framework quickly would improve the resiliency of banks and prevent the inevitable clean energy transition from causing instability in the banking system. Some commentators have argued that integrating climate-related risks into the regulatory and supervisory framework is unnecessary since these risks are already “priced into” security values. A survey of institutional investors counters that assertion, as 93 percent responded that the implications of climate change had yet to be priced into markets.44 Research surrounding the projected physical impacts of climate change and scenario analyses probing transition-related impacts support this view.45 There are several reasons that investors have yet to price the impacts of climate change into valuations for a range of assets, including a lack of granular, comparable, and reliable corporate disclosure of climate-related risks; backward-looking pricing models that are not fit for purpose when analyzing forward-looking risks; and the temporal mismatch between short-term corporate thinking and medium- to long-term climate risk materialization.46 Even if climate-related risks were priced in, however, that would not absolve regulators of the need to design and implement climate-related financial regulations, including integrating climate risk into capital requirements. When a risk is accurately priced in, that simply means the value of the asset reflects some appropriate distribution of probabilities. The price, to oversimplify, reflects the weighted expected outcome. But regulators’ goal is not to ensure the financial system is resilient in the face of the expected outcome. Regulators must ensure that the financial system can withstand extreme but plausible scenarios—outcomes on the tail of the probability distribution. These tail events create systemic risk and naturally involve negative externalities, against which private actors do not have the incentive to self-insure. It’s always better for a risk to be appropriately priced, since inflated asset valuations create additional financial sector vulnerabilities and can be the source of a shock if a bubble pops, but it doesn’t eliminate the need for strong regulatory safeguards. Banking regulators should first focus on the financial exposures that face the clearest and most direct transition-related risks: fossil fuel assets and fossil fuel infrastructure. Bonds, loans, and derivative transactions for companies that derive more than 15 percent of their revenue from the extraction, exploration, transportation, storage, exporting, or refining of oil, natural gas, or coal should be the top priority. The risk weights should be calibrated based on several factors, including: 1) the extent to which the company generates revenue from fossil fuel-related activities; 2) differentiation in transition risk intensity among oil, gas, and coal exposures; and 3) the length of the exposure. Regulators could also incorporate additional variables. One additional option is to treat financing for new and existing fossil fuel reserves and infrastructure differently, to the extent practicable. But regulators should not spend years trying to over-engineer the risk weights, adding needless complexity. As discussed later in this report, regulators should then look to adjust risk weights for additional financial exposures that also face serious transition-related risks. The increased risk weights for bank exposures to fossil fuel assets and infrastructure should be calibrated based on the extent to which the borrower or counterparty derives its revenue from the extraction, exploration, transportation, storage, exporting, or refining of oil, natural gas, or coal. For example, a loan to an energy company that derives 80 percent of its revenue from fossil fuel-related activates should receive a higher risk weight than a loan to an energy company that derives 30 percent of its revenue from such activities. Factoring in a company’s revenue breakdown would help account for the varying degrees of transition risk embedded in different exposures and, as a secondary consequence, create positive incentives for diversification. An energy company that generates an ever-decreasing share of its revenue from fossil fuels is better-positioned to navigate the low-carbon transition, and its loans or bonds generally pose less credit risk or market risk as a result.
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Financial Crisis
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Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 crash
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The crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 was a controlled flight into terrain of a McDonnell Douglas DC-9 during approach to Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina. The incident occurred on September 11, 1974, killing 72 of the 82 people on board. The scheduled flight was from Charleston Municipal Airport to Chicago O'Hare, with an intermediate stop in Charlotte. An investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) determined that multiple crew errors were the primary cause of the crash. On the morning of September 11, 1974, while conducting an instrument approach in dense ground fog into Douglas Municipal Airport in Charlotte, the aircraft crashed at 7:34 am EDT more than three miles (5 km) short of Runway 36, killing 72 of the 82 on board. [2] Thirteen survived the initial impact, including the first officer and one flight attendant,[3] but three of the initial survivors ultimately died from severe burn injuries[4] as late as 29 days after the accident. [5]
Among the fatalities was the vice president for academic affairs of the Medical University of South Carolina, James William Colbert Jr.,[6] and two of his sons; they were the father and brothers of television personality Stephen Colbert. [7][8]
The aircraft was a five-year-old McDonnell Douglas DC-9-31 registered as N8984E, which was delivered to Eastern Airlines on January 30, 1969. [5]:25 The captain was 49-year-old James E. Reeves, who had been with the airline since 1956. He had 8,876 flight hours, including 3,856 hours on the DC-9. [5]:24 The first officer was 36-year-old James M. Daniels, Jr. He had been with the airline since 1966 and had 3,016 flight hours, including 2,693 hours on the DC-9. [5]:24
While investigating this accident, the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) reviewed the cockpit voice recorder (CVR) and found that the flight crew had engaged in unnecessary and "nonpertinent" conversation during the approach phase of the flight, discussing subjects "ranging from politics to used cars. "[5] The NTSB concluded that conducting such nonessential chatter can distract pilots from their flying duties during the critical phases of flight, such as instrument approach to landing, and recommended that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) establish rules and educate pilots to focus exclusively on flying tasks while operating at low altitudes. It was later realized that this rule should also apply to takeoffs; for example, the lack of a sterile cockpit environment was a contributing factor to the crash of Air Florida Flight 90 on January 13, 1982. The FAA, after more than six years of consideration, finally published the sterile cockpit rule in 1981. [9][10]
The NTSB also found that the crew was apparently trying to visually locate the airport while executing an instrument approach in the presence of low-lying fog. In addition, a persistent attempt to visually identify the nearby Carowinds amusement park tower, known as "Carowinds Tower" to pilots,[11] which rose to an elevation of 1,314 feet (401 m), or 340 feet (105 m) above ground level (AGL), may have further distracted and confused the flight crew. The first officer was operating the flight controls, and none of the required altitude callouts were made by the captain, which compounded the flight crew's nearly total lack of altitude awareness. During the investigation, the issue of the flammability of passengers' clothing materials was raised. There was evidence that passengers who wore double-knit synthetic fiber clothing articles sustained significantly worse burn injuries during the post-crash fire than passengers who wore articles made from natural fibers. [5]
The NTSB released its final report on May 23, 1975,[5] concluding that the accident was caused by the flight crew's lack of altitude awareness and poor cockpit discipline. [12] The NTSB issued the following official probable cause:[12]
"The flight crew's lack of altitude awareness at critical points during the approach due to poor cockpit discipline in that the crew did not follow prescribed procedure".
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Air crash
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Three men, 18, one boy, 17, accused of armoured car and bank heists
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Guard held at gunpoint in Scarborough, firearm stolen Three young men and one boy faces dozen of charges for allegedly stealing numerous vehicles, holding up a bank and robbing an armoured car in the city and west of the GTA in recent weeks. Toronto Police say three masked bandits armed with guns and a large knife entered a bank in Drumbo — a village about 30 kilometres southwest of Kitchener — on Jan. 19. “They pointed guns at victims while a fourth suspect waited in a stolen getaway vehicle close by,” acting Insp. Shawn Getty, of the Holdup Unit, said in a statement released Wednesday. He said the bandits “used threats and demanded cash.” “Once cash was handed over, they fled the area in their getaway vehicle,” Getty said. The same crew is believed to be behind another frightening heist in Scarborough on Feb. 2. In that incident, three masked crooks “ambushed” two armoured car guards as they exited a bank near Morningside and Milner Aves. “One guard was able to lock himself in the truck while the other was disarmed and held at gunpoint outside,” Getty said, explaining the bandits “demanded cash from the guard inside the truck.” “Once they realized an alarm was triggered, they fled to their stolen vehicle, taking the guard’s gun with them,” Getty said. Following a joint investigation between Toronto cops, Waterloo Regional Police and Ontario Provincial Police, numerous suspects were identified. Getty said the group of suspects were located in an allegedly stolen vehicle in Toronto and taken into custody on Saturday. Police executed six search warrants in Waterloo and various Toronto neighbourhoods. Those searches allegedly led to the seizure of evidence related to the robberies, a replica handgun, a loaded semi-automatic assault rifle and cash. With assistance from the OPP, Getty said further investigation also led to the recovery of the guard’s stolen firearm in the Toronto area. Shahroze Raja, 18, Ismael Isse, 18, and a 17-year-old boy, all of Kitchener, face a slew of robbery and gun-related charges. The fourth suspect — Imran Kayani, 22, of Brampton — is charged with conspiracy to commit an indictable offence. Anyone with information regarding this investigation is urged to call the Holdup Unit at 416-808-7350 or Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477). cdoucette@postmedia.com On Twitter: @SunDoucette
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Bank Robbery
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April 2009 Moldovan parliamentary election protests
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Protests against the April 2009 Moldovan parliamentary election results began on 6 April 2009 in major cities of Moldova (including Bălți and the capital, Chișinău) before the final official results were announced. The demonstrators claimed that the elections, which saw the governing Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova (PCRM) win a majority of seats, were fraudulent, and alternatively demanded a recount, a new election, or resignation of the government. Similar demonstrations took place in other major Moldovan cities, including the country's second largest, Bălți, where over 7,000 people protested. [citation needed]
The protests and wave of violence is sometimes described as the "grape revolution" but the term was not used much by outsiders. Some of the protesters discussed and organized themselves using Twitter, hence its moniker used by the media, the Twitter Revolution. [9][10][11][12] In Chișinău, where the number of protesters rose above 30,000, the demonstration escalated into a riot on 7 April. Rioters attacked the parliament building and presidential office, breaking windows, setting furniture on fire and stealing property. The unrest began as a public protest after the announcement of preliminary election results on 6 April 2009, which showed the Party of Communists of the Republic of Moldova victorious, winning approximately 50% of the votes. Final results, published on 8 April, showed that the PCRM garnered 49.48% of the vote, gaining 60 parliament seats – one less than the three-fifths required for the party to control the presidential election. The opposition rejected the election results, accusing the authorities of falsification in the course of counting the votes and demanded new elections. [13][14][15]
The PCRM had been in power since 2001. A series of protests had been organized by opposition parties in 2003, when the government attempted to replace the school subject "History of the Romanians" with "History of Moldova". Students protested for months before the government backed down on its plans. [16]
Petru Negură, a university professor of sociology at the Moldova State University and the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences, France, attributed the origins of the crisis to the ethnic identity problem: some people in Moldova identify themselves as "Moldovans", while others as "Romanians". [16]
The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) International Election Observing Mission declared the elections generally free and fair, although it also reported that the comparison of data on the voting age population provided by the Moldovan Ministry of the Interior with the number of registered voters provided by local executive authorities revealed a discrepancy of some 160,000. [17] A member of the OSCE observation team, Emma Nicholson disagreed with the assessment of the OSCE report on the fairness of the elections. [18]
A number of voters have also reported cases of fraud where deceased and nonattendant persons were registered as having voted. [19][20][21]
According to Vladimir Socor, a political analyst for the Jamestown Foundation, the elections were evaluated as positive on the whole, with some reservations not affecting the outcome or the overall initial assessment. [22] Exit polls had showed a comfortable win for the Communist Party, with the only uncertainty being the size of the winning margin. [22]
Opposition parties pointed out that the lists of eligible voters included 300,000 more people compared to the previous elections, although the population of Moldova has been shrinking. [23] Due to this, they claimed that around 400,000 fictive voters have been created in the last two months and, therefore, changed the voting result. [24] It was also claimed that the authorities have also printed more than one voting bulletin for certain persons. [25]
The first demonstrations, organized as a flashmob by a 25-year-old Moldovan journalist Natalia Morar,[26] began in Chișinău on 6 April 2009, with a larger number of demonstrators arriving on the next day, 7 April. The demonstration, numbering over ten thousand, most of them students and young people, gathered in the city center on Ștefan cel Mare boulevard. [27][28] The protest against the announced election results turned into clashes with the police, who used tear gas and water cannons. However, the police were soon overwhelmed by the number of the protesters. [29] Rioters broke into the nearby parliament building and the office of president. Entering the building through broken windows, demonstrators set parts of the building on fire, using documents and furniture both inside and outside. The building was retaken by the police later in the evening. [30]
The protesters, some of which carried Romanian flags,[31] chanted pro-Western, pro-Romanian and anti-government slogans such as "We want Europe", "We are Romanians"[31] and "Down with Communism". [32]
Two teenagers, Ion Galațchi and Dragoș Mustețea, with the alleged approval of the policemen, replaced the Flags of Moldova at the Presidential and Parliament buildings with a Flag of Romania and a Flag of Europe, claiming that they expected that this would calm the crowd. [7][33][34][35]
The emergency hospital of Chișinău reported treating over 78 injured police officers and protesters on 8 April,[36] while the Moldovan president stated that 270 people were injured in the riots. [37] Moldovan opposition called on the authorities to carry out new elections and on the demonstrators to cease violence. Moldovan national television had initially reported that a young woman died of carbon monoxide poisoning due to the fires within the parliament building set off by the rioters. [38] However, it was later reported that the woman was saved by a team of medics. [39]
On the evening of 7 April, a group of protesters organised a National Salvation Committee, consisting of student and civic representatives. Writer Nicolae Dabija, a vice-president of the committee said that the intended purpose of the committee is to organise new elections. [40] However, the protests died off as the police intervened during the night to arrest the protesters found in the square. On 7 April, Serafim Urechean, leader of the opposition Party Alliance Our Moldova, during a meeting with President Voronin said that the riots were orchestrated by security services. [41] However, former Moldovan President Petru Lucinski believes the violence was the spontaneous result of the actions of leaderless youths frustrated with the waning of Moldovan democracy. He said that there is no need to look further to explain the unrest and the movement "didn't have any leaders, one part went in one direction, a peaceful one and another part took a violent turn. "[41]
Protests of solidarity with demonstrators in Chișinău took place in Cimișlia, Bălți, Ungheni and other Moldovan cities. [42] Conversely, in some cities (especially in the autonomous region of Gagauzia) the actions of the protesters were condemned. The protests continued on Sunday, 12 April, when around 3,000 protesters gathered in the central square where the mayor of Chișinău, Dorin Chirtoacă, held a speech about how Moldova's youth reject Communism because they "understand that their future has been stolen". However, the students were notably absent from the crowd, having been sanctioned for their participation in the previous protests. [43]
On the night following 7 April, around 1 am, police forces routed the remaining crowds in the main square and arrested about 200 participants. On the following day, more arrests were issued, with demonstrators beaten and transported away in police cars. [citation needed] Similarly, footage showed demonstrators getting dragged away and beaten by what appears to be plain-clothes police officers. [44] Among the protesters to be hospitalized after being beaten was Andrei Ivanțoc, formerly a political prisoner in Transnistria. [45] An independent MP, Valentina Cușnir, was near the main street of Chișinău at about midnight on 7 April.
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Protest_Online Condemnation
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ČSA Flight 511 (July 1961) crash
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ČSA Flight 511 was a flight operated by an Ilyushin Il-18 that crashed near Casablanca-Anfa Airport in Morocco on July 12, 1961. All 72 people on board were killed. The cause of the crash remains undertermined. [1]
On March 28, 1961 another Ilyushin Il-18 operating on the same flight, ČSA OK-511, crashed near Nuremberg, Germany, killing all 52 passengers and crew on board. This article about an aviation accident is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
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Air crash
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Brazil dam collapse: Five arrested as toll rises to 85; dead fish wash up downstream
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Authorities arrested five people on Tuesday in connection with the collapse of a Brazilian mine dam, while the death toll rose to at least 84 and the carcasses of fish floated along the banks of a river downstream that an indigenous community depends on for food and water. Brumadinho: Authorities arrested five people on Tuesday in connection with the collapse of a Brazilian mine dam, while the death toll rose to at least 84 and the carcasses of fish floated along the banks of a river downstream that an indigenous community depends on for food and water. The dam that held back iron ore waste, owned and operated by big mining company Vale SA, collapsed Friday, burying a company cafeteria and other Vale buildings and inundating part of the small southeastern city of Brumadinho. Grieving relatives buried some of the victims in Brumadinho and rescue teams continued a delicate search through swaths of muck for more victims or survivors. Lieutenant Flavio Godinho of the Minas Gerais state civil defense agency said Tuesday evening that the number of confirmed dead had risen to 84 from 65. He said the number of missing stood at 276. People look at the mud-hit area a day after the collapse of a dam at an iron-ore mine belonging to Brazil's giant mining company Vale near Brumadinho. AFP The dead fish and trash were seen by a reporting team for The Associated Press about 18 kilometers downstream from the dam along the banks of the Paraopeba River. The Pataxo Indians living alongside the river who use it to fish, bathe and gather water for the plants they cultivate as food were told by Brazilian environmental officials that they should no longer do so, said Hayo, the village chief who goes by one name. "We used the river to take baths, to fish, to water our plants and now we can't do any of that," said Hayo, wearing a large feathered headdress and a red and black-beaded necklace. "We can't even water our plants because they say it damages the soil." Two agents with the Brazilian Institute of Environment and Renewable Natural Resources, the country's environmental enforcement agency, took water samples and talked with tribe members but said they were not authorised to speak about their findings. In a statement sent to The Associated Press on Tuesday, the agency said it had asked Vale to "remove the dead fish, which are having an impact on the indigenous population". The statement gave no details about the water tests and did not say whether tribal members had been told the water was unhealthy. The signs of possible ecological consequences came as the arrests of company workers with links to the dam were made in Sao Paulo and in the state of Minas Gerais. Three of the arrested worked for Vale, the company said, adding that it was cooperating with investigating authorities. A German company that has inspected the dam said two of its employees were arrested. The Munich-based TUEV Sued company declined to specify whether the arrested staff were from its German headquarters or its Brazilian branch. In ordering the arrests, Minas Gerais state judge Perla Saliba Brito wrote that the disaster could have been avoided. It's not believable that "dams of such magnitude, run by one of the largest mining companies in the world, would break suddenly without any indication of vulnerability," the judge wrote in the decision, according to news portal UOL. Authorities said the five will be detained for 30 days while officials investigate possible criminal responsibility. At a cemetery in Brumadinho, 15 freshly dug graves awaited the remains of some of those killed. Wailing in grief at the cemetery was the wife of Edgar Carvalho Santos, one of the mining company's workers whose body has been found. "He did not deserve this, he did not deserve it!" she sobbed. Friends and family members prevented reporters from approaching the woman. One woman told Santos' wife that "this was not a tragedy, it's a crime." It was a sign of the growing anger directed at Vale over the disaster. Vale is the world's largest producer of iron ore, which is the raw ingredient for steel. The company is one of Brazil's largest businesses and a key employer in Brumadinho, but many residents have complained that a siren which should have gone off to warn people to evacuate never sounded Friday. Military police Colonel Evandro Borges told reporters that most of the people missing were Vale employees. Many employees were eating lunch when the dam collapsed, burying a cafeteria and other company buildings. The company's American depository shares on the New York Stock Exchange were up 3 percent on Tuesday afternoon on the New York Stock Exchange, to $11.54 each, after falling nearly 18 percent on Monday.
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Mine Collapses
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Locust swarms reach Nigeria and Cape Verde as control costs ...
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Locust swarms reach Nigeria and Cape Verde as control costs soar
Swarms of locusts have descended on Caprivi (FAO)
English
DAKAR
Locust swarms devouring vegetation throughout West Africa have been reported for the first time in northern Nigeria and the Cape Verde Islands in the Atlantic ocean.
The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has warned that unless a new generation of immature insects developing in the semi-desert of southern Mauritania is sprayed quickly with insecticide, a new generation of mature locusts will take to the skies in the coming weeks and wreak even greater damage on crops throughout the Sahel.
"If we do not succeed in controlling the plague in Mauritania, we will have new swarms taking off for Senegal, Mali, Niger, Chad and beyond there towards Sudan," FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf told reporters in Dakar on Wednesday night following a two-day trip to Mauritania and Senegal.
Diouf said he estimated the cost of controlling the locust invasion had gone up to US$100 million from $9 million in February when the FAO first appealed for international aid to deal with the threat of a new plague across West Africa.
But he warned that unless the international community reacted quickly, several countries could face famine and the final cost would be much higher.
"If we delay, we will be faced with the situation we experienced 15 years ago when $600 million had to be devoted to the fight against locusts over a period of five years," Diouf said.
Nigerian officials said on Thursday that swarms of locusts had flown into three states in the northwest of the country over the past week and were causing heavy damage to crops in some areas.
Locust swarms had been detected in Sokoto, Zamfara and Kebbi states, they told IRIN.
"The pests were first seen about a week ago," Mustapha Shehu, the spokesman for Sokoto state government said. "Our farmers in areas like Sabon Birni, Isa, Wurno and Goronyo have lost their crops. Only Allah can tell if there will be any harvest."
"We hired an aircraft to spray insecticide to stop further spread," Shehu said. "We need help from wherever we can get it because the locusts are in such great numbers that we cannot handle the situation alone."
Millions of peasant farmers in the three affected states rely on food crops such as maize, millet, sorghum beans and groundnuts. They also grow cotton.
Meanwhile, the FAO reported that a brief period of northeasterly winds had blown several swarms of locusts out to the Cape Verde Islands, 450 km west of Senegal on August 5. The swarms contained up to 50 insects per square metre and numerous locusts, tired out by the long flight, were found dead on the beaches of four of the archipelago's inhabited islands, the FAO said in a statement.
Agricultural experts say the situation is particularly critical in the semi-arid countries of the Sahel since the rainy season has created favourable conditions for locust breeding and a new generation of the insects is likely to descend on food crops there next month just as they are ripening for the annual harvest.
FAO said locust control teams in Mauritania managed to treat just over 6,000 hectares of infected land during the first 10 days of August. However, the government has said it needs to spray up to one million hectares to bring the insects under control.
In Senegal, Mame Nene Lo, the director of vegetation protection at the Agriculture Ministry, told the French news agency AFP that more than 111,000 hectares had been infested with locusts since they first arrived in the country from neighbouring Mauritania in early July, but 35,000 hectares had been sprayed.
FAO reported that bands of newly hatched wingless hoppers were forming in the north of the country.
On Wednesday, Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade launched a fresh appeal for planes, pick-up trucks and spraying equipment to step up the locust control campaign. He also urged donors to provide radios for the control teams to keep in touch with their base and protective clothing for their members. Dozens of soldiers and firemen have been drafted into the campaign.
Localised damage to crops has also been reported in Mali, Burkina Faso, Niger and Chad.
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Insect Disaster
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Chicago Fire of 1874
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The Chicago Fire of 1874 took place on July 14. Reports of the extent of the damage vary somewhat, but sources generally agree that the fire burned 47 acres (19 ha)[1] just south of the Loop, destroyed 812 structures and killed 20 people. [2] The affected neighborhood had been home to Chicago's community of Jewish immigrants from Russia and Poland,[3] as well as to a significant population of middle-class African-American families;[4] both ethnic groups were displaced in the aftermath of the fire to other neighborhoods on the city's West and South Sides. The fire insurance industry's National Board of Underwriters responded to the fire by demanding widespread changes in Chicago's fire prevention and firefighting efforts, and ultimately encouraged fire insurers to cancel all coverage of buildings in the city in October. Many insurers did halt their activities in Chicago, and only returned to issuing policies in the city after the municipal government adopted many of the suggested reforms. [5]
In the immediate aftermath of the fire, there were some attempts to give the event a nickname to correspond with the much larger "Great Chicago Fire" of 1871. On July 17, three days after the fire, the Chicago Tribune suggested calling "the recent event 'The Little Chicago Fire,' to distinguish it from 'The Big Chicago Fire' that took place three years ago. "[6] In a later memoir, a fire insurance executive from Chicago claimed that the event was "known as the 'little big fire. '"[7] These nicknames never took permanent hold, however, and more recent publications refer to the event simply as "the fire of 1874"[2] or "the second Chicago fire". [8]
The 1871 fire spurred new fireproof regulations that prohibited wooden buildings to be constructed in the area bordered by 22nd Street to the south, the Chicago River to the north, Halsted Street to the west and Lake Michigan to the east. Wooden buildings already existing within those boundaries were grandfathered in and temporary wooden structures could be erected until replaced by permanent structures. City regulations mandated that those "temporary" buildings must come down within a year, but many remained. July 14 was a hot day in the city, with a temperature above 90 °F (32 °C). [9] The weather had been dry for weeks, with only one day recording more than a trace of rain since early June. [10] It was these circumstances, along with a "strong prairie wind" blowing from the southwest,[4] that made the 1874 fire similar to the 1871 fire. The section burned in the 1874 fire was south of the Chicago core that was rebuilt after the 1871 fire. This area south of the Loop was considered undesirable by many, according to the Chicago Tribune: “This part of the city consists of the worst rookeries imaginable, most of which are occupied as houses of ill-fame.”[11] The neighborhood was described as a "broad belt of wooden buildings which menaced the new structures which have sprung up in the business quarter of the South Division. "[8] Some of these buildings had been relocated to that part of the city from the South Division—the Tribune calls this relocation the act of "a weak Common Council and a weak Mayor", who endangered the city by packing these flammable wooden frame buildings too closely together upon relocation. [12] Water mains in that part of the city were insufficient for fire-fighting purposes, being "mostly four inches in diameter and largely choked up with rust and corrosion so that one steam fire engine could not get a sufficient supply from a fire plug. "[7] The neighborhood, on the eve of the fire, was a densely packed tinderbox that, especially under the dry and windy conditions, was highly susceptible to becoming the site of a major conflagration. Although all accounts were clear in identifying the fire's origin a little before 4:30 p.m. in the neighborhood generally known as the "Cheyenne District",[11] reports differ as to the exact location of the start of the fire. According to the report of the Fire Marshal, the fire began on Fourth Avenue (now Federal Street), and quickly spread to an oil works building near Clark Street and Fourth. The fire was further fueled by the ten to twelve barrels of oil in the alley near the oil works building. [13]
The San Francisco Elevator published an article on August 8, 1874, identifying a Polish Jewish rag shop filled with flammable materials at 527 S. Clark as the source of the blaze. The shopkeeper was allegedly absent at the time of the fire's discovery, but a prostitute who was occupying the room west of the building discovered the fire and sounded the alarm at box 37 at 4:29 p.m.[14]
In his three volume history of Chicago published in 1884, Alfred T. Andreas wrote that "on July 14, 1874, at 4:29 P. M., a fire of supposed incendiary origin was started in the two-story frame building, No. 449 South Clark Streets, owned by Le Grand Odell, and occupied as a saloon by E. T. Cregier. "[15]
In 2009, a Chicago-area librarian and online columnist, Alice Maggio, claimed in an article about the fire that it originated in a small barn "near the corner of Clark and 12th Street", similar to the debunked theory as to the start of the Chicago Fire of 1871. Maggio claimed that the barn was located next to the oil factory mentioned in the Fire Marshal's report. [16] The exact cause of the fire was not clear, but area residents alleged that its owner, Nathan Isaacson, had set the fire intentionally. In the aftermath of the fire, Isaacson was arrested and charged with arson. Although he was charged with arson, and some of his neighbors testified in court alleging to have witnessed him setting the fire, he was never convicted. [8] Maggio suggests that these witnesses' statements were motivated more by racial prejudice than by any hard evidence. [16]
According to the Tribune's article published the day following the fire, the fire began in "the centre of the block bounded by Twelfth, Taylor, and Clark streets, and Fourth avenue," a portion of the city the Tribune calls "the Cheyenne District. "[11] Due to a strong wind blowing from the southwest, the fire did not travel far south from its origin, halting before it reached Twelfth Street in that direction. Instead, the flames blew north and east, reaching the corner of Taylor and State Street by about 5:30 p.m. – by 6:00 p.m., the steeple of the German Methodist Church on the corner of Third and Polk caught fire. [11] The fire crossed State Street at about 6:30 p.m., and was nearing Wabash Avenue at 7:00 p.m. when an alderman appealed to Police Superintendent Rehm to use gunpowder to blow up some buildings in the fire's path to act as a firebreak. Rehm refused, saying he was not authorized to take such an action, and the alderman appealed to Mayor Harvey Doolittle Colvin, also without success. [11] Ultimately some attempts were made under the direction of Mark Sheridan, an alderman and one of the city's police commissioners, but sufficient quantities of gunpowder were too hard to acquire on such short notice, and the few wooden frame buildings that were demolished by these efforts did very little to slow the fire's progress. [17]
The city's firefighters tried to hem the fire in on north and south, driving the flames east towards Lake Michigan in order to contain the damage they could do—in doing so, it seemed at the time that this strategy would ensure that the residences along the lake on Michigan Avenue would be lost, but ultimately the fire department was able to almost completely halt the blaze just short of that street. [17] As the fire moved north along State Street, observers feared that the heart of the city's business district would be gutted again (as it was by the 1871 fire), but just north of the St. James Hotel and just south of Van Buren Street, a fire-proof wall was maintained that stopped the fire's progress just short of the Loop. The moment at which it was clear that the wall, called "the citadel of the conflagration" in one account, would mark the northernmost limit of the fire's destruction was characterized by one contemporary journalist as the turning point in the fire department's attempts to control the flames. [17] The fire burned itself out around midnight, claiming the Michigan Avenue Hotel as the last major building destroyed by the flames. [18]
The fire occupied approximately 47 acres (19 ha), spanning south and westward from Van Buren Street and Michigan Avenue. [5][19] The Associated Press report described the extent of the fire two days after the event: "The fire burned a small portion of Clark street, near 12th ... thence took 3rd and 4th avenues between Peck Court and 12th street, and burned them as far as Harrison street. State street was burned from Harmon Court to Van Buren street, Wabash avenue from 452, near the corner of Peck Court, to 267, near the corner of Van Buren street. Michigan avenue was burned from Harrison street to Van Buren, a short distance. "[1]
Prominent buildings destroyed in the fire include the First Baptist Church, the Great Adelphi theatre, the Jones School Building, Aiken's Theatre, the Michigan Avenue Hotel, Congress Hall, the Inter-Ocean Building, the St. James Hotel, and a post office which had formerly served as the Wabash Avenue Methodist Church. [4] Among the religious communities that lost their places of worship were First Baptist Church, Olivet Baptist Church, Bethel Methodist Church, German Methodist Church, Kehelath B'nai Sholom Synagogue, and Kehilath Anshe Ma'arav Synagogue. [1][11][20]
The Report of the Board of Police in the Fire Department to the Common Council lists 812 structures that were affected by the fire, their owners and occupants, and uses.
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Fire
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2016 Milwaukee riots
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City of Milwaukee
Local demonstrators
On August 13, 2016, a riot began in the Sherman Park neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, sparked by the fatal police shooting of 23-year-old Sylville Smith. During the three-day turmoil, several people, including police officers, were injured and dozens of protesters arrested. A nightly curfew was set up for teenagers in the area.
Smith was running on foot and armed with a stolen handgun when he was shot. Smith and the officer who fired the fatal shots, Dominique Heaggan-Brown, were both African-American. Video from the officer's bodycam showed that Smith had turned with the gun in his hand toward the officer just before the officer shot him.
Heaggan-Brown was criminally charged with Smith's deathand acquitted at trial. This was the first homicide charge against a Milwaukee police officer in over a decade.
A civil lawsuit is currently pending.
In 2014, community protests followed the fatal shooting of Dontre Hamilton, a mentally ill black man, in Milwaukee. The officer who shot and killed Hamilton was fired from the police force for not following protocol, but he was not criminally charged. In December 2014, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it would work with the Milwaukee Police Department on reforms. Milwaukee police previously attracted controversy for two incidents involving the deaths of black suspects while in police custody—one in 2010 and the other in 2011—as well as a scandal involving illegal strip searches and body cavity searches of 74 black people, for which a $5 million settlement was approved by the Milwaukee Common Council. Residents have criticized policing methods in predominantly black neighborhoods, which they say often involve a lack of respect towards suspects and use of force.
On June 29, 2016, police in riot gear had to respond to unrest in Sherman Park, near 39th and Burleigh, a block away from the August incident. Rioters smashed windows and threw rocks at police. A BP gas station had been a frequent flash-point for unrest during June and July 2016, with several incidents taking place there, including a murder. Later, it would be looted and set on fire during the August 13 riot.
The shooting of Sylville Smith occurred during a violent weekend in Milwaukee, with nine other shootings, five of them homicides, occurring within the preceding nine hours from August 12 to August 13. Two of the crime scenes were located a few blocks away from the police shooting.
Several reports and Milwaukee residents have connected the riots to a history of segregation and discrimination in Milwaukee.
Black residents, who make up about 40 percent of the city's population, have higher rates of unemployment, violent crime, incarceration, lack of education, and lower incomes than white residents. The poverty difference between black and white citizens is about one-and-a-half times the national average, and according to the Economic Policy Institute, Milwaukee has the nation's highest black unemployment rate.
One resident, Sharlen Moore, said:
It's a series of things that has happened over a period of time. And right now you shake a soda bottle and you open the top and it explodes, and this is what it is.
At about 3:30 p.m. on August 13, 2016, two 23-year-old men were pulled over by two officers for suspicious activity while driving through the neighborhood. Both men fled on foot. One, who was armed with a semi-automatic handgun carrying 23 rounds, was later shot twice, in the right arm and chest, by one of the officers, and died at the scene. The man's handgun, along with 500 additional rounds of ammunition, had been reported stolen during a March burglary in nearby Waukesha. The second man was later apprehended and put into police custody. The deceased man, later identified as Sylville Smith, was shot about 20 seconds after the traffic stop was conducted. [28]
Sylville K. Smith (April 11, 1993 – August 13, 2016)[ had two sisters, and a two-year-old son.According to his grandfather, Smith had cognitive and mental health issues, needing to take special education classes in elementary and middle school. He also started carrying a gun on his person after being shot at or robbed several times in separate incidents.
According to the police department, Smith had a "lengthy arrest record" dating back to at least 2011. He had been arrested or ticketed eight times for robbery, carrying a concealed weapon, theft, heroin possession, and other crimes. On February 3, 2015, he had been charged with felony first-degree "reckless endangering safety", in relation to a shooting at a party on August 24, 2014. This charge was followed by felony witness intimidation, when Smith attempted, through his girlfriend, to get the victim to sign a letter recanting his account. Both charges were dismissed after the victim willingly recanted his story. Smith's family said he had, at some point, filed a lawsuit against the Milwaukee Police Department, but no evidence of such a suit—settled or pending—was found in state or federal court.
Dominique Heaggan-Brown (born c. 1992) joined the police force in 2010 as an aide and then graduated from its academy three years later. He was wearing a body camera at the time of the shooting, as were two other officers at the scene. Heaggan-Brown is African American, and his name was initially withheld by police officials as "there are concerns for his safety". [38] He was identified by the public on August 16 after at least 3,000 people shared a Facebook image of him, with some adding threatening comments; the post was deleted by Milwaukee police shortly after.
On August 14, Milwaukee Police Chief Edward A. Flynn said Heaggan-Brown's "body camera showed Smith had turned toward the officer with a gun in his hand". Heaggan-Brown was placed on administrative duty following the shooting, as is standard protocol in the city police department.
Heaggan-Brown was described by residents as an "aggressive" officer who was not well-liked in the community. According to one of Smith's sisters, Sherelle, Heaggan-Brown had known her brother in high school. An unnamed law enforcement source confirmed that both men had attended Casimir Pulaski High School together. [40] Sherelle Smith also said that Heaggan-Brown was jealous of Smith's popularity and would often harass him because of it.
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Riot
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1985 Algarrobo earthquake
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The 1985 Algarrobo earthquake occurred on 3 March at 22:47 UTC (19:47 local time). Its epicenter was located on the south coasts of Valparaíso Region, Chile, close to the beach of Algarrobo. It had a magnitude of 8.0 Mw. [1]
The earthquake was felt between the Antofagasta Region in the north, and the Araucanía Region in the south, being felt with more power in Central Chile. It reached a maximum intensity of IX in the Mercalli intensity scale. The most affected zone was the port of San Antonio, in Valparaíso Region, together with Alhué and Melipilla in Santiago Metropolitan Region and Rengo in O'Higgins Region. The earthquake also affected Chile's capital city Santiago with great intensity. The quake left 177 people dead, 2,575 injured, 85,358 houses destroyed and about a million people homeless. [2] Many landslides were registered too, pavement breaks with the destruction of Pan-American highway in several points, broken-down bridges and considerable damage in affected town's infrastructure, with a long interruption on basic services. The damage was valued in more than 1,046 million US dollars. [3]
Coordinates: 33°14′24″S 72°02′24″W / 33.240°S 72.040°W / -33.240; -72.040
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Earthquakes
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2008 Race of Champions
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The 2008 Race of Champions was the 21st running of the event, and took place on December 14, 2008 at Wembley Stadium, London. Two special races were due to take place during the event, the first of which, with Olympic gold medallist Chris Hoy cycling against the reigning Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who was due to be driving a Mercedes road car. However, due to the slippery track at Wembley, Hoy could not take part on the bicycle. Hamilton did demonstrate his championship-winning Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula One car at the event, his first major British public appearance since winning the F1 title. [1] There was also a celebrity race, with eight celebrities taking part in Fiat 500 Abarth Assetto Corses. [2] These celebrities were Hoy, boxers Frank Bruno, David Haye, Amir Khan and Enzo Maccarinelli, chef James Martin, footballer Bacary Sagna and singer Shayne Ward. [3]
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Sports Competition
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