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About 350,000 in Ethiopia's Tigray in famine - U.N. analysis
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Adan Muez's uncle says the 14-year-old used to be as "strong as a lion".But having spent months hiding in a cave to escape violence in Ethiopia's Tigray region, he weighs less than 15 kilograms, or under two and a half stone.An analysis by United Nations agencies and aid groups estimates some 350,000 people in the conflict-torn region are in famine conditions.Adan's uncle, Tadesse Aregawi says they hid in the cave for more than three months."We were only eating roasted barley. Six people died and we had to bury them during the evening as it was not possible to do it during the day."Famine has been declared twice in the last decade, in Somalia in 2011 and South Sudan in 2017.For famine to be officially declared at least 20% of the population must be suffering extreme food shortages, with one in three children acutely malnourished and two people out of every 10,000 dying daily from starvation or from malnutrition and disease.The Ethiopian government disputes the analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC.It says food shortages are not severe and aid is being delivered.Mitiku Kassa is Ethiopia's aid chief and National Disaster Risk Management Commissioner."We don't have any food shortages. So that it is not the time, it is not a position to declare famine in current Tigray Regional State context."War broke out in November between federal forces and the rebellious Tigray People's Liberation Front.On Wednesday the U.N.'s spokesperson to the secretary general, Stephane Dujarric, said there had been reports of humanitarian movement being denied and the looting and confiscation of humanitarian assets and supplies by parties to the conflict.He said several areas of Tigray remain inaccessible."Levels of food insecurity and malnutrition are at alarming levels."At a hospital in Adigrat, Adan struggles to breathe.He weighs a third of the normal weight for a boy his age.His uncle says Adan hoped to grow up and achieve a good life.But that due to a lack of food, he is where he is now. Adan Muez's uncle says the 14-year-old used to be as "strong as a lion". But having spent months hiding in a cave to escape violence in Ethiopia's Tigray region, he weighs less than 15 kilograms, or under two and a half stone. An analysis by United Nations agencies and aid groups estimates some 350,000 people in the conflict-torn region are in famine conditions. Adan's uncle, Tadesse Aregawi says they hid in the cave for more than three months. "We were only eating roasted barley. Six people died and we had to bury them during the evening as it was not possible to do it during the day." Famine has been declared twice in the last decade, in Somalia in 2011 and South Sudan in 2017. For famine to be officially declared at least 20% of the population must be suffering extreme food shortages, with one in three children acutely malnourished and two people out of every 10,000 dying daily from starvation or from malnutrition and disease. The Ethiopian government disputes the analysis from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, or IPC. It says food shortages are not severe and aid is being delivered. Mitiku Kassa is Ethiopia's aid chief and National Disaster Risk Management Commissioner. "We don't have any food shortages. So that it is not the time, it is not a position to declare famine in current Tigray Regional State context." War broke out in November between federal forces and the rebellious Tigray People's Liberation Front. On Wednesday the U.N.'s spokesperson to the secretary general, Stephane Dujarric, said there had been reports of humanitarian movement being denied and the looting and confiscation of humanitarian assets and supplies by parties to the conflict. He said several areas of Tigray remain inaccessible. "Levels of food insecurity and malnutrition are at alarming levels." At a hospital in Adigrat, Adan struggles to breathe. He weighs a third of the normal weight for a boy his age. His uncle says Adan hoped to grow up and achieve a good life. But that due to a lack of food, he is where he is now. In the last two weeks, six states have seen a 40 percent increase in Covid-19 cases, according to NBC News. Minnesota is seeing the worst case, as doctors are beginning to worry about people not getting beds in their hospitals. Currently, the United States is averaging over 1,000 Covid related deaths a day. Britney Spears isn't done calling out her critics. Horrifying.View Entire Post › Mercedes asks for Right of Review of Hamilton-Verstappen incident at Brazil. "Uh... Ted? Do you know how the rest of that limerick actually goes?" "I am not a shock artist," Sophira Urista writes in a new apology. Brass Against Singer Apologizes for Peeing on Fan’s Face as NASCAR Permanently Bans Band From Its Venues Alex Young An NFL Network reporter said former Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins' pregame preparations were questioned by his coaches before Sunday's game. The suspect surrendered when deputies arrived, officials say. She totally flashed the paps. A federal agency run by a pal of Jared Kushner and given $100 million to fix the Covid supply chain crunch hasn’t invested a dime, says a new watchdog report. Timothy Weah's acute finish put the Yanks ahead 1-0 only for Michail Antonio's vicious goal from 34 yards to leave the match level at halftime. Krzyzewski calls DWI incident a “violation of our standards” as Savarino is not with team Even if you don't remember the "Drake & Josh" bedroom, this thing is still pretty impressive. Donald Trump's 2016 election rival had a "restful" response to the former White House chief strategist's arrest. Phaedra Parks‘ family outing photo on Nov. 14, sparked controversy after fans found something different about the former reality star’s appearance in the shot. In […] Former Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara continued his long rivalry with Pat Maroon on Monday by fighting the Lightning forward right after puck drop. As a jury was deliberating over his fate, a Georgia district attorney on Monday pleaded guilty to several charges stemming from improper acts while in office and agreed to resign. Mark Jones had already been suspended as Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit district attorney after the state attorney general’s office obtained the indictment on Sept. 7. It accused him of trying to influence a police officer’s testimony, offering bribes to prosecutors in his office and trying to influence and prevent the testimony of a crime victim. The security footage is going viral on TikTok. (Bloomberg) -- The breathless five-day rally in Rivian Automotive Inc. came to an abrupt halt on Wednesday, wiping out $16 billion from the newly public electric-truck maker’s valuation.Most Read from BloombergStartup Fever Is Gripping the World’s Last Big Untapped NationWhat Designers of Video Game Cities Understand About Real CitiesChronically Underfunded HBCUs Eye Scholarships in Biden BillElizabeth Holmes Faces Last-Ditch Chance to Testify at TrialShares of the startup, which made its tradin Giovinazzi loses F1 ride to Guanyu Zhou is believed to be backed by as much as $30 million in Chinese sponsorship
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Famine
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2011 UEFA Europa League Final
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The 2011 UEFA Europa League Final was the final match of the 2010–11 UEFA Europa League, the 40th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the second season since it was renamed from UEFA Cup to UEFA Europa League. The match was played at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, on 18 May 2011,[5] between two Portuguese teams – Porto and Braga – for the first time in UEFA competition finals. [6]
Porto won 1–0 and secured their second title in the competition, following a successful appearance in the 2003 UEFA Cup Final. [7] The man of the match was Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, who scored the winning goal and further cemented his 2010–11 UEFA Europa League top scorer tally with a tournament record of 17 goals. [8][9]
As the winners, Porto earned the right to play against the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League winners, Barcelona, in the 2011 UEFA Super Cup. The qualification of Porto and Braga for the 2011 UEFA Europa League Final ensured it would be the first all-Portuguese final in UEFA competitions,[10] and only the second European tie between Portuguese teams, after the semi-final meeting between Braga and Benfica. [11] Overall, it was the eighth UEFA Cup or UEFA Europa League final featuring two clubs from the same national association. [10] A distance of 47.4 km (29.5 mi) separated the cities of Porto and Braga, the smallest between opponents in a UEFA competition final. [12] The previous record was 83.8 km (52.1 mi), set at the 1988 UEFA Super Cup between PSV Eindhoven of the Netherlands and KV Mechelen of Belgium. [12]
Porto secured its presence in a major UEFA competition final for the fifth time, after victorious campaigns at the 1986–87 European Cup (2–1 against Bayern Munich), 2002–03 UEFA Cup (3–2 against Celtic) and 2003–04 UEFA Champions League (3–0 against Monaco), and a runner-up place in the 1984 European Cup Winners' Cup Final (lost 2–1 against Juventus). The club also competed three times in the UEFA Super Cup – won in 1987 (2–0 in aggregate, against Ajax) and lost in 2003 (1–0 against Milan) and 2004 (2–1 against Valencia) – and grabbed two Intercontinental Cup titles in 1987 (1–0 against Peñarol of Uruguay) and 2004 (0–0, 8–7 on penalties, against Once Caldas of Colombia). [11]
Braga qualified for a UEFA competition final for the first time. [6] Before reaching the Dublin final, the club's best European result was a place in the last 16 of the 2006–07 and 2008–09 UEFA Cup seasons. [11] Participation in the 2008–09 UEFA Cup was achieved via the 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup, where Braga was one of the eleven third-round winners. Having reached the furthest in the UEFA Cup, among the Intertoto Cup teams, Braga were considered the outright winners of the final season of this competition. [13] In contrast to the extended national and international curriculum of Porto, Braga had just one major title in their history: the 1966 Portuguese Cup. [11]
A UEFA Champions League regular, Porto finished third in the 2009–10 Primeira Liga and thus missed a place in the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League, entering instead in the UEFA Europa League play-off round. [14] This was the first time Porto competed in UEFA's second competition since winning the 2002–03 tournament. Braga, on the other hand, finished the Portuguese league in a historic second place, which granted them participation in the UEFA Champions League for the first time. [15] Braga reached the group stage by successively knocking out high-profile opponents, such as Celtic and Sevilla, in the second and third qualifying rounds, respectively. [16][17] The club concluded the group stage in third place, behind Shakhtar Donetsk and Arsenal, and was relegated into the UEFA Europa League round of 32. [18]
The Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, was selected to host the final match of the 2011 UEFA Europa League, at a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee, on 29 January 2009. [19][20] A bid from the then under-construction Irish venue was put forward by the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) and the Dublin City Council. [21] It had competition from Arsenal's Emirates Stadium, but as Wembley Stadium was picked to host the Champions League final, Arsenal's bid was ruled out on the grounds that UEFA does not allow the same country to host its two major competition finals in the same season. [20] This selection confirmed that Ireland would host its first-ever European football club competition final. [22]
The new 50,000 all-seater stadium was built on the site of the old Lansdowne Road ground, with the intention of continuing the location as the home of the Irish national rugby and football teams. [22] Demolition work began in late May 2007 and lasted two months. Erection of the infrastructure initiated in January 2009, and by October, the roof was fully installed; in the following month, construction of the pitch took place. The stadium was completed and handed over in April 2010 to the FAI and Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU). [23] It was officially opened on 14 May 2010,[24] and on 11 August 2010 hosted its first international football match, between the Republic of Ireland and Argentina. [25]
On 12 February 2009, the naming rights for the new stadium were bought by the British multi-national insurance company Aviva, for a ten-year period. [26] However, because UEFA sponsorship regulations forbid advertising of brands outside of the organisation during competition matches,[27] the venue would be referred as "Dublin Arena" during the final. [28] Venue preparations for the final included the removal of every advertising and stadium branding elements unrelated with UEFA and its official sponsor partners. Stadium director Martin Murphy explained that the whole process was a "big operation", through which they had to "cover the signs on the stadium facade itself" and that "the three tiers [would] have Uefa [sic] branding across them, covering any existing sponsors." It also involved an increase in the number of media facilities and seats. [29]
UEFA unveiled the visual identity of the 2011 UEFA Europa League final in a ceremony held on 30 November 2010 at Dublin's Convention Centre. Attending this event were delegates of the local civic authorities, the Irish government and the FAI. [30][31] London-based brand agency Desigwerk was again awarded the task of conceiving the visual identity for a UEFA competition event, after the 2005 and 2007 UEFA Champions League finals and the UEFA Euro 2008. [32] The Dublin Arena was depicted as the focal element of the logo design, as the stadium is "the ultimate destination for the fans on their journey", according to UEFA's head of club competitions, Michael Heselschwerdt. He further explained that the visual identity contained "very clear and specific mentions and visual references to Dublin, to the Celtic setting and history, and to the local visual iconography". [30]
Due to security reasons, the 50,000-seat Dublin Arena had its capacity reduced to 47,000 for the UEFA Europa League final. [23][33] Ticket sales for the general public were carried out in two phases. The first phase was open exclusively for Irish residents from 16 December 2010 to 13 January 2011. [34] Applications were submitted online to UEFA and the FAI for a maximum of two tickets from one of the four available price categories. [34] Validated requests were entered into a ballot to determine which applications would be allocated tickets; successful applicants were notified by 26 January and received the tickets by 25 April. [35] FAI chief executive John Delaney revealed that 7,000 tickets were sold during this phase, from a total of 21,000 applications, and that an additional 3,000 tickets were already allocated to the FAI grassroots. [33] On 21 February, a second phase was opened for the international public, and lasted until 21 March. First-phase procedures were also applied to the international ticket sales. Ticket ballot notifications were concluded by 31 March and tickets were delivered by 18 April. [36]
Each finalist club was assigned 12,000 tickets, most of which from the lowest priced category.
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Sports Competition
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Leading money-in-politics data nonprofits merge to form OpenSecrets, a state-of-the-art democratic accountability organization
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Center for Responsive Politics and National Institute on Money in Politics launch combined organization to integrate federal, state and local data WASHINGTON, JUNE 2, 2021 — The nation’s two leading money-in-politics data organizations have joined forces to help Americans hold their leaders accountable at the federal and state levels, they said today. The combined organization, OpenSecrets, merges the Center for Responsive Politics (CRP) and the National Institute on Money in Politics (NIMP), each leading entities for three decades. The merger will provide a new one-stop shop for integrated federal, state and local data on campaign finance, lobbying and more, that is both unprecedented and easy to use. “This merger brings together decades of expertise, massive data sets, and the kind of analysis that researchers, journalists, advocates and individuals rely on to understand the influence of spending on politics,” said OpenSecrets Executive Director Sheila Krumholz, who previously led CRP. “At a time when our country is being tested, this is a good day for democracy.” For nearly 40 years, CRP has made best-in-class data and analysis about spending in federal races available to those seeking to unveil and analyze political influence. NIMP has provided similar gold-standard data and analysis for state politics. Now their work will be combined to provide an unparalleled window on money in American politics. “Transparency fuels the accountability that’s necessary to ensure the healthy evolution of our fragile democracy,” said OpenSecrets Executive Advisor Edwin Bender, who previously led NIMP. “Combining our work into a singularly robust and comprehensive tool will be invaluable for helping all of us take the measure of who our elected officials truly represent.”
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Organization Merge
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Kōriyama explosion
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The Kōriyama explosion occurred on 30 July 2020 at 8:57 a.m. Japan Standard Time, when a gas explosion destroyed an On-Yasai, a shabu-shabu restaurant located along Sakura-dōri [ja] in the city of Kōriyama in Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. The blast resulted in the death of a person and the wounding of 19 other people. [1] The restaurant was being remodeled at the time of its destruction. The man who was killed in the blast was part of the crew who was renovating the restaurant, though he was the only worker present at the time of the incident. [2] An Ikinari Steak restaurant and a bank within the vicinity of the restaurant were also damaged,[3] four of the bank's occupants were among the injured. [4] Damage caused by the blast was reported up to 450 meters (1,480 ft) away from its epicenter at the shabu-shabu restaurant. [2]
The cause of the gas explosion is currently being investigated by authorities, though it is suspected to have been caused by the failure of several propane cylinders. [5][6] The company carrying out the renovation work at the time of the explosion claimed their work did not involve the gas cylinders. [2] However, the renovation did include the rushed installation of an induction stove near the restaurant's gas stove on the day prior to the blast. [7] Fukushima Prefectural Police suspect that gas was leaking from the cylinders throughout the night prior to the blast, filling the building with their contents. This theory is backed up by reports from nearby residents who said they had smelled gas in the area the day before the explosion. [8] When the renovation worker entered the premises and turned on the power to the building, the gas was ignited. [9] The restaurant's gas supplier informed the police on 5 August that they had noticed corrosion on the restaurant's gas pipes in June. The restaurant's owners claimed they had not acted on the information from the gas supplier because the store was closed to business. [10]
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Gas explosion
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Mexico water supply buckles on worsening drought, putting crops at risk
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A member of the Air Force sit next to the tanks with cloud seeding solution in a King Air 350i plane, used for cloud seeding to enhance precipitation as part of the efforts to combat a long-term drought has hit two-thirds of Mexico, at the Military Air Base No. 10 in Culiacan, in Sinaloa state, Mexico June 25, 2021. REUTERS/Jesus Bustamante MEXICO CITY, July 2(Reuters) - A long-term drought that has hit two-thirds of Mexico looks set to worsen in coming weeks, with forecasts warning of high temperatures, crop damage and water supply shortages on the horizon, including in the populous capital. Experts are sounding the alarm that parched crops could under-produce as temperatures hit 40 degrees Celsius (104F) on Wednesday in some parts of northern Mexico, including key farming areas. "In some states, irrigation is practically disappearing due to lack of precipitation," said Rafael Sanchez Bravo, a water expert at Chapingo Autonomous University, noting low reservoirs and reduced water transfers to farms. Mexico's drought parallels that of the western United States and Canada, where crop yields are threatened and water rationing has been imposed. read more While rains were only 3% below average across Mexico as a whole last year, the strain on water reserves was exacerbated by increased domestic demand during the COVID-19 pandemic, a U.S. government report showed last month. Hopes to replenish Mexico's parched reservoirs now hinge on the traditional rainy season, known formally as the North American Monsoon, which is now underway. "The next three months will be really crucial in how this drought turns out," said Andreas Prein, an atmospheric scientist for the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado. Much of Mexico gets between 50% and 80% of its annual rainfall between July and September. Water shortages are common in parts of Mexico, but have worsened amid heat extremes blamed on climate change, according to scientists and data from federal water commission CONAGUA. About 70% of Mexico is impacted by drought, up from about half in December. About a fifth of the country is experiencing extreme drought compared to less than 5% each year since 2012. Experts fear the problem will reach more of the 22 million inhabitants of Mexico City's metro area, which is quenched by a network of reservoirs. Some districts have no piped drinking water at the best of times. "I have no doubt that in 2022 there will be a crisis," said Sanchez, who anticipates possible social unrest. "The reservoirs are completely depleted." Sanchez is encouraging local authorities to invest in collecting rainfall for domestic use. Villa Victoria, an important source for Mexico City, was among 77 of 210 principal reservoirs below 25% capacity at the end of June, according to CONAGUA data. Cracked lake beds can be seen at others around the city. Images by a European Commission satellite show a visible depletion at Villa Victoria on June 15 of this year, compared to June 30 last year when it was already half empty. This time last year, there were 56 reservoirs below 25% capacity. Two years ago, there were just 40. The drought has prompted the government to seed clouds with silver iodide over the next three months in a trio of northern farming states - Sinaloa, Sonora and Chihuahua - in a bid to induce rain with the help of specially-equipped air force planes, according to an agriculture ministry statement. But this year's corn production target of 28 million tonnes is still at risk. "The scenario is pessimistic and we can't deny we're worried," said a senior agriculture ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity. It can be difficult for scientists to attribute any single event to climate change, but more extreme droughts point to warming global temperatures that researchers say is due to greenhouse gas emissions, said Prein. The heat saps moisture from soil. "That's a big deal. If you are already in a very dry region like the western part of Mexico and you increase the temperature, you lose a lot of water just by evaporation," said Prein. Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Subscribe for our daily curated newsletter to receive the latest exclusive Reuters coverage delivered to your inbox. Floods and landslides that have killed at least one person have cut all rail access to Canada's largest port in the city of Vancouver, a spokesperson for the port said on Tuesday.
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Droughts
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1989 Polish prison riots
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The 1989 Polish prison riots refers to an outbreak of violence, which took place at four maximum-security prisons in northwestern Poland in late 1989. The riots were the result of political changes which had taken place in Poland in early and mid-1989 (see Polish Round Table Agreement, Polish legislative election, 1989). Inmates in several prisons hoped that collapse of the Communist system would result in the release of repeated offenders, due to an amnesty, but it did not happen. In the riots that ensued, seven people were killed, and hundreds were wounded. [2]
During the rise of Solidarity (Polish trade union) in 1980 and the ensuing government crackdown, in some prisoners, regular and political prisoners in Polish prisons started to cooperate. By mid-1989, political prisoners in Poland had been released, but prisons across the country were still filled with thousands of inmates sentenced by the Communist regime. At that time, prisons in Poland were filled with people found guilty of petty offenses, such as stealing a bicycle. It was the result of the so-called “May 1985 Bill”, which stated that all recidivists, regardless of the crime, had to be sent behind bars. The bill caused overcrowding in cells, and conditions for inmates were very poor. When, as a result of the 1989 legislative election, several former political prisoners found themselves in the Sejm, those who remained behind bars hoped that general amnesty was imminent. The first disturbances in prisons began in the late summer of 1989, especially in northwestern Poland (in Nowogard, Czarne, and Goleniow). At first, the inmates demanded improvements in their living conditions and better pay for their work.
The Polish government met the requests of protesting prisoners, who in return demanded more, including the revoking of their sentences and amnesty.
In August 1989, inmates at Nowogard took over de facto control of the prison. Their authority went so far that to take any prisoner for a trial at Szczecin court, a permission of the 47-member Protest Committee was needed. [2][3] The Committee was headed by 34-year-old thief Zbigniew O. (aka Orzech). Orzech was in the prison system since he was 18 years old, with less than a year on the outside since then. Originally imprisoned for car theft and resisting arrest, he was involved in prison activism for better prisoner treatment; and once attempted suicide.] By fall of 1989, he was only months from being released again.
On November 16, 1989, the Sejm declared a partial amnesty, which, however, did not include recidivists. This disappointed thousands of inmates, and two days later Zbigniew O. of the Nowogard prison, together with two other prisoners (Miroslaw T., sentenced for 15 years for killing his own mother, and Zdzislaw P., sentences for 12 years for theft), went to Warsaw with a prison guard escort, to talk to Minister of Justice Aleksander Bentkowski. However, in the car, they got into the fight with their escorts, and damaged the vehicle (one version states that the escorts provoked the fight; another that the inmates got drunk and started it themselves); either way the minister refused to meet them.
Nevertheless, Orzech managed to talk to Senator Edward Wende of oppositional Solidarity Citizens' Committee. Wende did not have good news for him and other inmates, telling the criminal that the Contract Sejm most likely would refuse extended amnesty. Orzech, after returning to Nowogard, told other inmates that if there was no extended amnesty, the prison “would be destroyed”. Corrections officers and managers of prisons in northwestern Poland were aware of the situation, and brought reinforcements from other parts of the country.
On December 7, 1989, Polish Parliament debated about final shape of the amnesty.Inmates of several northwestern prisons (Goleniow, Czarne, Nowogard) anxiously awaited the news from Warsaw.
When Teleexpress and Polish Radio informed that the amnesty did not include recidivists, furious prisoners began fighting the wardens. [2][4] In Goleniow and Czarne riots have broken out, with unknown number of victims (later on it turned out that in Czarne, 6 people died, and 30 were wounded. [5] In Goleniow, a prisoner accused of cooperation with authorities was set on fire and died, while in Czarne, wardens opened fire on inmates who tried to take control of the gate.
In Nowogard, the prison warden prevented the prisoners from watching the prison's television, but they got the information from their own, clandestine radio sets. Orzech demanded to talk to the warden. During the conversation, he threatened to blow up prison’s furnace room, which was serviced by the inmates. The manager, Stanislaw Grzywacz, gave up and agreed to Orzech’s demand to organize a meeting of prisoners. At the same time, Grzywacz ordered all prisoners out of the furnace room and replaced them with wardens. During the prisoner meeting, those present discussed two options - those of active and passive resistance. Around 40%, including Orzech, supported active riot, and it was decided to follow the majority who favored the passive resistance. ] The inmantes would refuse to go out for their everyday walks, and every hour, they would make noise, hitting their pots against bars in windows.
On next day, December 8, Nowogard inmates listened to morning news on the radio, finding out that riots had broken in other prisons. [3] When the news was brought to Orzech, he immediately went to see manager Grzywacz, telling him: “In five minutes, we will burn your prison to the ground”. Soon afterwards, Orzech, while returning to his cell, threw a chair at a window, breaking it and yelling: “We are going down”, which was understood as a call for action.
Within a few minutes, whole prison descended into chaos. Wardens ran away in panic, locking all doors and gates behind. Heaviest skirmishers took place in Pavilion IV, where Orzech was kept. It was him, who, according to many witnesses, gave order to set fire to the buildings, and also to evacuate the sick prisoners from the hospital located there. On December 10, riots took place on an even larger scale. Inmates threw bricks and burning rags, while wardens used tear gas. Then the prisoners got to the cafeteria, from where they took several hundred jars of goulash and bars of chocolate.
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Riot
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Infant, two others die in gas explosion
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Three persons including an infant on Wednesday died in a gas explosion that occurred in Abeokuta, Ogun State .
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the incident occurred around 3 p.m. at Oke-Egunya, along NTA Road in Abeokuta South Local Government Area.
According to a witness, the incident occurred when a technician was topping up gas of a faulty refrigerator at a residence in the area.
“In the process of topping up gas into the refrigerator, there was an attraction of fire from someone cooking with firewood and there came an explosion,” the witness said.
Confirming the incident, the Director of Fire Service in the state, Fatai Adefala, said after receiving the distress call, his men rushed to the scene.
According to him, ”upon getting to the scene, we discovered it was gas explosion”.
He confirmed three were burnt to death as they were caught up with the explosion.
“We received a distress call at 3:15 p.m. at Oke-Igbore. We learnt it was a spark of fire. On getting there, we discovered it was a gas explosion.
“What really happened was that they were cooking outside with fire and unfortunately the gas exploded.
“They were trying to top the gas in the fridge, in the process, it exploded.
“Three lives were lost, one infant was among them. For now, the bodies are still lying there. You know it was those who are living in that house that were affected. It is an ancient building,” he said.
Meanwhile, Babatunde Akinbiyi, the Spokesperson, Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps (TRACE) also confirmed the incident.
Mr Akinbiyi said that seven injured victims were rescued and taken to the Federal Medical Center (FMC), Idi Aba, Abeokuta, while the deceased had been buried by their families according to Islamic rites. ( NAN )
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Gas explosion
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ISRO’s Chandrayaan-3 to take flight into space next year
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Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) is likely to launch India’s third lunar mission ‘Chandrayaan-3’ in the third quarter of 2022. In a written reply in Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Science & Technology; Minister of State (Independent Charge) Earth Sciences; MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said that Chandrayaan-3 is likely to be launched during the third quarter of next year on the assumption that work will proceed apace and normally henceforth. “The realization of Chandrayaan-3 involves various processes including finalization of configuration, integration, subsystems realization, spacecraft level detailed testing and various special tests to evaluate the system performance on earth,” the minister further informed. Decoding Chandrayaan-3 Chandrayaan-3 is a lander-and rover-specific mission, which will demonstrate India’s capability of soft landing on a celestial body, with the rover then communicating with Earth via the existing orbiter from Chandrayaan-2 and taking images 100 km from Moon’s orbit. The orbiter has an estimated lifespan of seven years. The unique exploration of Chandrayaan-3 aims at studying not just one area of the Moon but all the areas combining the exosphere, the surface as well as the sub-surface in a single mission. With Chandrayaan-1, ISRO achieved immense success as the ‘Moon Impact Probe’ by Chandrayaan-1 lunar remote sensing orbiter detected water in vapor form in trace amounts. The discovery was done along with JPL-Brown University payload Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) that confirmed that the formation of Hydroxyl ions and water molecules on the lunar surface is an ongoing process. With Chandrayaan-3, India aims to further the study of the lunar surface, focussing on the dark side of the Moon that has not seen sunlight in billions of years, which is believed to have ice and vast mineral reserves. Why exploring the Moon is imperative? The Moon is the closest cosmic body at which space discovery can be attempted and documented. Further, Moon is a promising testbed to showcase technologies required for deep-space missions. Exploring the Moon will enhance our understanding of the celestial body clearly, stimulating the advancement of technology, promoting global alliances and inspiring future generations of explorers and scientists. Why Lunar South Pole of the Moon is targeted for exploration? The Moon provides the best linkage to Earth’s early history and civilization. The exploration will offer an undisturbed historical record of the inner Solar system environment. The Lunar South pole is especially interesting because the lunar surface area that remains in shadow is much larger than that at the North Pole. Further, there could be a possibility of the presence of water in permanently shadowed areas around it. In addition, the South Pole region has craters that are cold traps and contain a fossil record of the early Solar System.
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New achievements in aerospace
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2020 China floods
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Since early June 2020, heavy rains caused by the regional rainy season led to floods severely affecting large areas of southern China including the Yangtze basin and its tributaries. Rains and floods extended to central and eastern China during July and were described as the worst since at least 1998. [11]
According to the Ministry of Emergency Management, by the end of June flooding had displaced 744,000 people across 26 provinces with 81 people missing or dead. [3] As of 13 August, the floods have affected 63.46 million people and caused a direct economic loss of 178.96 billion CNY, which are 12.7% and 15.5% higher than the 2015-2019 average, respectively. 219 people were found dead or are missing, and 54,000 houses collapsed, which is 54.8% and 65.3% lower than the 2015-2019 average, respectively. [6] The Ministry of Water Resources said that a total of 443 rivers nationwide have been flooded, with 33 of them swelling to the highest levels ever recorded. [12] According to statistics from the National Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA), 76 key national cultural relics and 187 provincial cultural heritage sites have suffered damage of varying degrees. [citation needed]
Affected regions include Guangxi, Guizhou, Sichuan, Hubei, and Chongqing. The regions include the upper and middle river basin of the Yangtze and its tributaries. With more rain, floods started to extend to lower regions of the Yangtze basin such as Anhui, Jiangxi, and Zhejiang. [2] Hunan, Fujian, and Yunnan were also affected. Hu Xiao from the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) indicated that the rains were caused by increased vapors arising from the Indian and Pacific oceans. [14]
Some experts claim climate change is partly to blame and such events may become more frequent in the future.
The local governments in recent years had made steps to implement nature-based flood mitigation strategies like tree planting, sponge cities and floodplain restoration. [18][19] Experts have noted these measures did have some positive effect as the intensity of precipitation in 2020 is much higher than the rains that caused the 1998 floods, yet the flooding has been less serious and damaging. [18] However, huge challenges in flood management and resilience remain. The Yangtze flows through some of the most productive agricultural, economic and industrial centers in China. With the rapid increase of population in China and breakneck economic growth, a large number of lakes and other wetlands had been reclaimed into farmland or urban development. [20][21] The serious shrinkage and disappearance of lakes in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River is an important reason for the aggravation of flood disasters.
In 1915, Dongting Lake was 5,000-square-kilometre (1,900 sq mi). [21] In 2000, it was only 2,625-square-kilometre (1,014 sq mi). [21] In the 1950s, Poyang Lake was 4,350-square-kilometre (1,680 sq mi). [21] In 2000, it was only 3,750-square-kilometre (1,450 sq mi). [21] Hubei was once known as "The Province of a thousand of Lakes" (千湖之省). [21] In the late 1950s, there were 1,066 lakes in Hubei. [21] By the early 1980s, only 309 were left. [21][22]
Multiple dams in the Yangtze river basin control floodwaters; the biggest and most important of these is the Three Gorges Dam with its catchment area of about 1,000,000-square-kilometre (390,000 sq mi). It was constructed not only for power generation but also for flood control. [1] By the end of June, the dam had started to release floodwaters. [25] While the CMA indicated flood discharge started on 29 June, satellite images suggest that floodgates were opened already five days earlier. [26] Yichang, a city below the dam, experienced extensive flooding, raising questions about the effectiveness of the flood control by the dam. [27] According to the company that manages the dam, the dam had been "effectively reducing the speed and extent of water level rises on the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze". [28] Critics, however, suggest that the dam is "not doing what it is designed for" and unable to deal with severe events. [28] Other experts have pointed out that studies do show that the dam does help alleviate typical flooding during normal years and that the problem is not the design of the dam, but the public's expectation that the dam alone can solve all the problems of flooding on the Yangtze. Particularly, when significant amounts of rainfall occurred downstream of the Three Gorges Dam in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze which will never pass through the dam. [29][30] During July, three flood waves from rains in the upper Yangtze basin arrived at the dam, necessitating the opening of sluice gates multiple times to create space in the reservoir. [31] In Chinese social media it was claimed that this exacerbated downstream flooding, while the dam operators maintained that the action helped to delay floodwaters going downstream. [31] On 15 August, "Flood #4" passed through the Three Gorges reservoir with a maximum inflow of 62,000 cubic meters per second, the highest reached at that time during this flood season. [32] "Flood #5" passed the dam by 22 August when the reservoir's water level reached 167.85 metres, the highest level ever recorded. [33]
According to a member of the expert committee of the state-sanctioned National Disaster Reduction Centre, the restrictions in human flow during the COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China halted regular dam maintenance, dam inspection, training of officials and the construction of hydraulic projects, which were scheduled in the winter and spring of 2020. [34]
On 27 June, a 3-hour heavy rainfall of 118-millimetre (4.6 in) was recorded in Hefei Economic and Technological Development Zone, of which 94-millimetre (3.7 in) was recorded during 1.5 h from 17:30 p.m. to 19:00 p.m., which was rare for many years. [35] Some road sections and communities were submerged. [35]
On 6 July, Lecheng Bridge, a Qing dynasty stone arch bridge and provincial cultural relics protection unit in Sanxi Town of Jingde County, was destroyed. [36] On 7 July, some houses along the Shuiyang River in Xuanzhou District of Xuancheng were submerged. [37]
On 7 July, several reservoirs in She County filled over capacity and reached record levels, requiring large releases of water to alleviate the dangerously high storage of water. [38] Homes in She County were inundated. The first day of the National College Entrance Examination (Gaokao) was postponed due to hard rain. [39] On 7 July 2020, Zhenhai Bridge, a large stone arch bridge in Tunxi District of Huangshan City and a "Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level in Anhui", was destroyed by mountain torrents.
On 9 July, Yaodu River (尧渡河) and Longquan River (龙泉河) in Dongzhi County exceeded the highest water level in history.
All residents in Laozhou Township and Xuba Township of Tongling along the Yangtze River were ordered to evacuate on 11 July.
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Floods
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Justice News
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Three Middlesex County Individuals Charged with $2.1 Million in Paycheck Protection Program Fraud and Economic Injury Disaster Loan Fraud Schemes
NEWARK, N.J. – Three Middlesex County, New Jersey, residents were arrested today for their roles in fraudulently obtaining over $2.1 million in federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans and Economic Injury Disaster Loans (EIDL), U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.
Arlen G. Encarnacion, 35, of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, is charged by complaint with 11 counts of bank fraud, three counts of wire fraud, and two counts of money laundering. Kent Encarnacion, 28, of Perth Amboy, is charged by separate complaint with one count of bank fraud and two counts of money laundering. Jacquelyn Pena, 36, of Perth Amboy, is charged by separate complaint with three counts of bank fraud and two counts of money laundering. They are all scheduled to have their initial appearances by videoconference this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate District Judge Leda Dunn Wettre.
According to documents filed in these cases and statements made in court:
Arlen G. Encarnacion submitted 11 fraudulent PPP loan applications to two different lenders on behalf of nine purported businesses and three fraudulent EIDL applications to the Small Business Association (SBA) on behalf of three purported businesses. Kent Encarnacion submitted one fraudulent PPP loan application on behalf of a purported business to one lender and Jacquelyn Pena submitted three fraudulent PPP loan applications to two different lenders on behalf of three purported businesses.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act is a federal law enacted on March 29, 2020, designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of up to $349 billion in forgivable loans to small businesses for job retention and certain other expenses, through the PPP. In April 2020, Congress authorized over $300 billion in additional PPP funding.
The PPP allows qualifying small businesses and other organizations to receive loans with a maturity of two years and an interest rate of 1 percent. PPP loan proceeds must be used by businesses on payroll costs, interest on mortgages, rent, and utilities. The PPP allows the interest and principal on the PPP loan to be forgiven if the business spends the loan proceeds on these expense items within a designated period of time after receiving the proceeds and uses at least a certain percentage of the PPP loan proceeds on payroll expenses.
The applications the defendants each submitted allegedly contained fraudulent representations to the participating lenders and the SBA, including bogus federal tax return documentation. The defendants also each fabricated the existence of employees and the wages paid to the non-existent employees through the purported businesses. According to Social Security Administration records, there were no Forms W-3, Transmittal or Wage and Tax Statements, nor Forms W-2, Wage and Tax Statements processed for any of the defendants’ entities between 2018 and 2020.
Based on the defendants’ alleged misrepresentations, the lenders and the SBA approved the defendants’ PPP loan and EIDL applications and provided their purported businesses with approximately $2.1 million in federal COVID-19 emergency relief funds meant for distressed small businesses. Of this amount, Arlen G. Encarnacion received approximately $1.69 million, Kent Encarnacion approximately $156,000, and Jacquelyn Pena approximately $335,000. The defendants then transferred a substantial portion of the proceeds, including in connection with Jacquelyn Pena’s purchase of real estate and Arlen G. Encarnacion’s purchase of a luxury Lamborghini SUV.
Each count of bank fraud charged in the complaints carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine; each count of wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years; and each count of money laundering carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. Both the wire fraud and money laundering counts carry a maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the gross gain to the defendant or gross loss to the victim, whichever is greatest.
U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited postal inspectors of U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Newark Division, under the direction of Acting Inspector in Charge Raimundo Marrero;
special agents of IRS – Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Michael Montanez; special agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Thomas Mahoney; special agents of the Social Security Administration – Office of the Inspector General, New York Field Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge John Grasso; special agents of the Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Robert Manchak; special agents of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Stephen Donnelly; special agents of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of the Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Patricia Tarasca in New York; and special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security – Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jason J. Molina in Newark, with the investigation leading to the charges. He also thanked the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office and the Perth Amboy Police Department for their assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Mark C. Orlowski and Olajide A. Araromi of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Government Fraud Unit in Newark.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Department of Justice’s National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form .
The charges and allegations contained in the complaints are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate
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1996 NBA lockout
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The 1996–97 NBA season was the 51st season of the National Basketball Association (NBA). The league used this season to celebrate its 50th anniversary, which included the unveiling of the league's list of its 50 greatest players. This particular season featured what has since been acknowledged as one of the most talented rookie-classes, featuring the debuts of Allen Iverson, Ray Allen, Kobe Bryant, Steve Nash, Jermaine O'Neal, Ben Wallace and Stephon Marbury. The season ended with the Chicago Bulls defeating the Utah Jazz 4 games to 2 in the NBA Finals to win the franchise's 5th championship. The 1996 NBA lockout was the second lockout of four in the history of the NBA. It began and ended on July 10, 1996. The lockout was imposed after the league and the players union could not reach an agreement involving $50 million in profit sharing from television revenue. The league requested 50 percent of the profits be applied toward player salaries while the union pushed for a larger share. After a few hours of talks, the league agreed to allocate an additional $14 million per season in television revenue toward the salary cap during the last four years of the six-year collective bargaining agreement. The agreement ending the lockout was announced a few hours after the lockout began. [1][2][3]
Notes
Teams in bold advanced to the next round. The numbers to the left of each team indicate the team's seeding in its conference, and the numbers to the right indicate the number of games the team won in that round. The division champions are marked by an asterisk. Home court advantage does not necessarily belong to the higher-seeded team, but instead the team with the better regular season record; teams enjoying the home advantage are shown in italics. * Division winner
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Strike
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Loray Mill Strike
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The Loray Mill strike of 1929 in Gastonia, North Carolina, was one of the most notable strikes in the labor history of the United States. Though largely unsuccessful in attaining its goals of better working conditions and wages, the strike was considered very successful in a lasting way; it caused an immense controversy which gave the labor movement momentum, propelling the movement in its national development. Located in the south-western piedmont of North Carolina, Gaston County had the ideal resources for manufacturing. Because of the large potential workforce of former sharecroppers and failed farmers,[1] many northern industrialists moved south in search of a reduced cost of labor. [2] World War I brought great prosperity to the southern cotton mills, "fueled largely by government defense orders for uniforms, tents, and war material. Thousands of new jobs opened in the mills, and wages soared to all time highs. "[3] This boom was to be short-lived, however, and the prosperity that the workers enjoyed soon disappeared. The luxury items they had purchased on credit were now stretching their budgets so much that they could hardly afford to put food on the table. Managers introduced the "stretch-out" system in which spinners and weavers not only doubled their work, but also reduced their wages. "I used to tend forty-eight looms," complained a South Carolina weaver in 1929, "while under the stretch-out I have to tend ninety looms and I couldn't do it. Three years ago I was makin' over $19 a week. Now I make $17.70." "By the late 1920s some mill workers' wages sank as low as $5 a week. "[4] The owners of the mills insisted on keeping prices down, which caused mill work to become extremely dangerous and dirty. Often the workdays were so long that the women, who made up a considerable percentage of the workers, were rarely home to raise their children. Upon hearing about the conditions in the Loray Mill, Fred Erwin Beal of the National Textile Workers Union (NTWU), a communist labor union, as well as a member of the Trade Union Unity League, began focusing his attention on the small town of Gastonia. [5]
On Saturday, March 30, 1929, the union held its first public meeting in Gastonia. Ellen Dawson, co-director of the strike and vice president of the NTWU, urged workers to stand resolute. The "seemingly frail" woman was in fact a "tough, experienced organizer and superb stump speaker. "[6] At 3 pm, Beal took a vote and the workers voted unanimously to strike. On April 1, 1929 1,800 mill workers from the Loray Mill walked off their jobs to protest intolerable working conditions. The strikers demanded a forty-hour workweek, a minimum $20 weekly wage, union recognition, and the abolition of the stretch-out system. [7]
In response, management evicted families from mill-owned homes. In an effort to retain order, Mayor Rankin asked Governor O. Max Gardner for assistance. He immediately sent 250 National Guard troops who arrived on April 3. [8] The strike escalated throughout the month. Nearly 100 masked men destroyed the NTWU's headquarters on April 18,[9] As a result, the NTWU started a tent city on the outskirts of town that was protected by armed strikers at all times. The situation continued throughout the next few months as the workers continued to strike despite the return to production at the Loray Mill, making their situation appear hopeless. [10] On June 7, 150 workers marched to the mill to call out the night shift. They were attacked and dispersed by sheriff's deputies. Later that night, four officers including Police Chief Aderholt arrived at the tent city and demanded that the guards hand over their weapons. An altercation ensued and Chief Aderholt was killed. Two of his officers and several strikers were wounded. [11]
In the aftermath, 71 strikers were arrested. Eight strikers and another eight members of the NTWU, including Beal and Clarence Miller, were indicted for the murder of Sheriff Alderholt. During the trial, a juror went insane after seeing some disturbing evidence. As a result, the judge was forced to declare a mistrial. When news of the mistrial was released, a general wave of terror ran through the countryside, with the anti-strike "Committee of One Hundred" prominent in the vigilante activity. [12]
The defense team included: Arthur Garfield Hays, who had worked briefly in the Sacco and Vanzetti case, Dr. John Randolph Neal of the Scopes Trial defense, and Leon Josephson of International Labor Defense, the legal arm of the Communist Party of the USA. [13][14][15][16][17][18][19]
During the early part of September, mobs of men gathered up strikers and ran them out of the county. [20] These actions came to a head when, on September 14, a truck containing 22 strikers was chased down and fired upon. One female striker, Ella Mae Wiggins, was killed. In a retrial in the Alderholt case, seven men were charged with his murder, six of whom were Loray Mill employees. All were found guilty of second degree murder and sentenced to lengthy terms of imprisonment by Judge M.V. Barnhill. [21]
Beal and Miller were released on bail and fled to the Soviet Union to avoid their prison sentences. [21] (On their ship were American Communist writer Myra Page and her husband John Markey. )[22] Disillusioned by his life in the USSR, Beal subsequently returned to the United States and surrendered to the authorities in North Carolina. He was later pardoned. [23]
Ella May Wiggins (also known as Ella Mae Wiggins) was a single mother of nine, four of whom died of whooping cough due to inadequate medical care.
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Strike
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Update: Man charged after robbing College Station bank
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COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KBTX) - A Hempstead man has been charged with aggravated robbery and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle after robbing a bank at 2305 Texas Ave, Friday afternoon. Ondre Green, Jr, 19, was arrested after College Station Police said he displayed a gun during a bank robbery at Texas Avenue and Manuel Drive around 12:30 p.m. Officials say Green was then found with a handgun and money from the bank, and subsequently admitted to the robbery. CSPD says no one was injured during the robbery and they are not looking for any other suspects. Bank robber captured — Bank robbery reported at Texas Avenue and Manuel Drive at ~12:30 p.m. The actor displayed a firearm during the robbery & fled on foot down Manuel. The actor was located with a handgun and property (incl. money) from the bank, and admitted to the robbery.
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Bank Robbery
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Seals at tourism hotspot suffering slow and painful deaths caused by helium balloons
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Helium balloons are killing wildlife at one of Victoria's most popular nature tourism destinations.
An Australian fur seal is the latest animal to be saved from a painful death caused by a burst balloon.
Researchers at Phillip Island are reporting that an increasing number of birds and animals are ingesting, or becoming tangled in, the remnants of burst helium balloons.
A young fur seal was saved by researchers this week after it was discovered with balloon ribbon wrapped around its neck.
Without intervention, the seal would have suffered and died a slow death while it grew with the ribbon cutting into its flesh.
The researchers said the birds and animals they saved were just the tip of the iceberg.
Phillip Island Nature Parks research manager Peter Dann said they did not know how many animals were falling victim to balloons and the ribbons, known as bands.
He said the seal rescued this week was one of the lucky ones.
"Our rangers managed to catch it and found that it had a balloon band wrapped around its neck several times; they found it was cutting into the animal's flesh," Dr Dann said.
"It would have died quite slowly in the long term if they hadn't been able to remove it, but now its prospects of recovery are extremely good.
"Birds too — short-tailed shearwaters, or mutton birds that Phillip Island's famous for, as well as penguins — are particularly prone to picking up things on the surface of the sea.
"They pick up these balloons and balloon bands and they end up bring them back and feeding them to their chicks."
The Phillip Island Nature Reserve has joined forces with Zoos Victoria to launch a campaign called When Balloons Fly, Seabirds Die, encouraging people to stop releasing helium balloons.
Zoos Victoria chief executive Jenny Gray said released balloons often ended up in the ocean.
"Every day balloons are released or escape at outdoor events because people don't realise this is creating a very real threat to wildlife," Dr Gray said.
Dr Dann said the problem was growing around Phillip Island.
"We've had at least a dozen fur seals entangled with these balloons strings, or bands, in the last five years that we know of, that we've actually caught and removed the string from," he said.
"We're noticing on Phillip Island that we're getting more and more balloon bands turning up with exploded balloons on the end on the beaches.
"It would probably come as a surprise to many people that whey they celebrate some happy event by releasing balloons, there are consequences further down the line."
)
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Environment Pollution
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UT Austin Ranked Best Texas School for Veterans, Wins Gold Award from Texas Veterans Commission
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AUSTIN, Texas — The University of Texas at Austin is the No. 1 school for veterans in Texas, according to U.S. News & World Report, and was recently honored with a gold medal designation from the Texas Veterans Commission.
Established by the State of Texas, the Veterans Education Excellence Recognition Gold Award recognizes universities that provide excellence in education and related services that significantly contribute to the academic success of student veterans and military-connected students.
The U.S. News veterans ranking is a subcategory of the publication’s overall national undergraduate rankings, which placed UT Austin at No. 10 among all U.S. public universities. In the veterans subcategory, UT Austin ranked No. 1 in Texas and No. 16 among all U.S. universities.
“Providing world-class teaching and mentoring resources to veterans is a top priority and point of pride at The University of Texas,” said UT Austin President Jay Hartzell. “Both of these recognitions underscore our continued commitment to supporting our student veterans and their families.”
The university is home to more than 475 military veterans, and nearly 1,300 students are spouses or children of current or former military members. The university supports these students through a variety of programs including veteran education benefits support, veteran-centered academic support, career services, health care resources, a dedicated veteran/military space on campus, and a full-time staff dedicated to our veteran and military-affiliated students.
“Our veterans are exceptional leaders, students and assets to the university,” said Jeremiah Gunderson, retired staff sergeant and director of Student Veteran Services. “The needs of student veterans are diverse, so our goal is always to serve them through a holistic approach that supports both their academic and personal goals.”
The university’s support of military personnel and veterans is evident across campus, with a long history and wide range of institutes and research initiatives that support military objectives and technological innovation. Most notably, UT Austin’s partnership with the Army Futures Command has established the university as a hub for research dedicated to modernizing the U.S. Army. Additionally, UT Austin recently signed an agreement with the U.S. Space Force to provide advanced research and workforce development.
The Institute for Military and Veteran Family Wellness collaborates with veteran and family service organizations, the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense to develop solutions to address military service-related trauma and the challenges of transitioning from military to civilian life. It also provides service-learning opportunities to student veterans seeking careers in military medicine and military social work.
“The University of Texas has long been a world-class destination and partner for our nation’s military, veterans and their families — a fact that is further confirmed by our recent No. 1 ranking and gold award,” said Joseph Kopser, special adviser for military leadership and strategy policy at UT. “Our commitment is displayed every day by researchers, faculty and staff who work tirelessly to support strategic military objectives and improve the lives of those who have served.”
Situated in the heart of the state’s capital and with access to a booming culture of innovation in Austin, the university is uniquely positioned to offer strategic support, groundbreaking research and job opportunities to the military community and veterans. Austin was recently named the No. 5 city in the nation for veterans by U.S. News & World Report.
Both the U.S. News & World Report ranking and the TVC Gold Award come as UT Austin is increasingly recognized as a top school for veterans nationally. The university was recently named the best school for veterans in Texas and No. 6 nationally by career website Zippia.
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Awards ceremony
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Charlie Sheen Confirms Daughter Sami Moved Out of Denise Richards’ Home, Dropped Out of High School
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The video then cut to a clip of Sami smiling with the caption: “Now: finally moved out of the hell house, had a spiritual awakening, own 2 cats, happy single, full of self love, and dropped out of high school :).”
Courtesy of Sami Sheen/Instagram
A source tells Us Weekly that Richards is “saddened” by the situation. ”Denise set normal rules that any parent would be setting. She’s a mom and a parent and there are rules. She didn’t want to follow the rules,” the insider said. “Charlie didn’t support implementing Denise’s rules. He has a different way of parenting and Sami decided to live with her dad. Denise loves her daughter very much.”
Sheen and Richards, who also share 16-year-old daughter Lola, split in 2005 when she was pregnant with their second child. The twosome finalized their divorce in 2006 and Richards adopted daughter Eloise in 2011. The actress went on to marry Phypers in 2018.
Bravo viewers got a glimpse at Richards’ relationship with her kids during seasons 9 and 10 of RHOBH. She often spoke about the Two and a Half Men star’s past drug use and how his headline-making behavior affected their girls.
“I’m struggling with parenting right now with my teenagers. Sami, I think sometimes she does things hoping to get a reaction out of me. It’s not easy,” Richards said on a May 2020 episode. “A lot of people have an impression of me being wild and crazy, but Charlie was sober when we got married, so we were not this swinging couple that people might assume. We weren’t.”
Read article
The Bold and the Beautiful star added that “things started to change rapidly” when she was pregnant with Lola.
“It was a very dark time, very toxic, and I filed for divorce when I was six months pregnant with her. I did whatever I could to hide Charlie’s behavior,” she said. “How do you tell kids what’s really going on? I would say, ‘Dad had to go to work, but he loves you so much. He wants to be there for you girls.’”
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Famous Person - Divorce
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1915 Pleasant Valley earthquake
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The 1915 Pleasant Valley earthquake occurred at 22:53:21 on October 2 in north-central Nevada. With a moment magnitude of 6.8 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), it was the strongest earthquake ever recorded in the state. The earthquake remains as one of the best examples ever for evidence of creating fault scarps along the west side of the Tobin Range. It produced four scarps, with a total length of 59 kilometers (37 mi), and re-ruptured Holocene scarps located at the bottom of the base of the mountain blocks. [4] Among the scarps, the average vertical displacement among the affected areas was 2 meters (6 ft 7 in), and the maximum displacement of 5.8 meters (19 ft) occurred near the old Pierce School site on Buskee Creek Canyon. [3][5]
The rupture originated along an unnamed fault somewhere in the eastern side of Pleasant Valley, in north-central Nevada. The epicentral region was mostly uninhabited, so there was little property damage considering the very large magnitude. [3]
The earthquake's damage was confined to within 50 miles (80 km) of the epicenter. Damage in Kennedy destroyed two adobe houses, collapsed several mine tunnels, and cracked concrete mine foundations. Winnemucca experienced damage to adobe buildings as well, and several multistory brick buildings lost coping and upper wall parts. Many chimneys were destroyed if they were above roof lines. Water tanks were knocked over in Battle Mountain, Kodiak, Lovelock, and Parran. Several ranches reported damage, all by the southern end of Pleasant Valley. More adobe houses were knocked down by the shaking; a masonry chicken house and a hog pen were destroyed; and houses were displaced from their foundations. [6]
The earthquake had several aftershocks which disturbed a significant amount of land in Northern Nevada. [7]
Sources
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Earthquakes
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Business owners in Wheatley, Ont., demand answers after explosion injures 3, destroys 2 buildings
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In the hours after an explosion rocked the heart of Wheatley, Ont., on Thursday, reducing two buildings to rubble and injuring three people, business owners were questioning the response to an unsolved, ongoing gas leak in the area.
"It wasn't dealt with properly, I don't think. It was just a matter of time," said Barry Broadbent, who owns the Car Barn restaurant, a couple of buildings down from the blast.
Broadbent described the aftermath of the explosion as mayhem, and was amazed and thankful more people were not injured.
"The government, they've had three months to do something about this — three full months and nobody's done anything other than monitor," said Maurice Raffoul, who owns MJ's Pizza, which was destroyed in the explosion.
"I'm just not impressed with our municipal government or our Ontario government."
Emergency crews remain on scene at after an explosion at Talbot St. E and Elm St. in <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Wheatley?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Wheatley</a>. The Provincial Hazmat Team and Urban Search & Rescue have been called in to assist. <a href="https://twitter.com/CK_EMS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CK_EMS</a> & <a href="https://twitter.com/EssexWindsorEMS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EssexWindsorEMS</a> are on scene. <a href="https://t.co/JDXhJLExHz">pic.twitter.com/JDXhJLExHz</a>
Don Shropshire, chief administrative officer of Chatham-Kent, said the municipality did exactly what it should have done.
"Everything worked today," he told CBC News in the hours following the explosion.
"The fire services responded to the call, the detection equipment was put in place by the private business owner at The Pogue, the work that the municipality did to have gas detection — that all worked and people were moved out of harm's way before the explosion."
Ontario solicitor general Sylvia Jones said Friday that the province had been working with Chatham-Kent on the issue prior to the explosion, will continue to support the municipality.
"Our hearts go out to those who have been injured and all those affected by this tragic event," Jones said in a statement.
A toxic, flammable gas was first detected on June 2 in the core of the town of about 3,000 people. It required a response from Chatham-Kent's fire department and Windsor's hazardous materials team that resulted in a weeks-long state of emergency.
Dozens of people were forced to leave their homes and several businesses were shut down while the source of the hydrogen sulphide leak was investigated.
"We know it's coming out the ground between two buildings next door to the pub," Chatham-Kent fire Chief Chris Case told CBC Radio's Windsor Morning on June 4.
A second state of emergency was declared on July 19 after gas was detected once more at 15 Erie St. N., where The Pogue Irish Pub has sat empty for years.
Once again, dozens of people were forced from their homes and buildings to close down.
Weeks later, the area of concern was narrowed down to just 15 Erie St. N., which would be monitored for gas.
"The ongoing monitoring offers an increased level of safety for those working in the building and ensures emergency services can be notified and a further public evacuation can be implemented, if needed," wrote Shropshire on Aug. 3.
The building was destroyed in Thursday's explosion, which occurred hours after monitoring devices placed at the site indicated the presence of gas late in the afternoon.
"This shouldn't have happened. Someone should have been down here a long time ago to take care of this problem and they sat on it. They sat on it — that's it," said Raffoul, who operated his pizza shop for 35 years in a building now flattened.
"If that would have exploded right away, who knows what would have happened?"
Before Thursday, gas had last been detected at the site on July 19.
"We had never been able to identify the source of the gas leak," said Shropshire shortly after the latest explosion.
"No one was in the building other than the gas detection people."
Shropshire said they've been working with the provincial government to figure out the source of the leak.
"We've been told that there could be a number of different sources for the leak, but the most likely one, the most probable, is that it's an abandoned gas well."
Days after the first leak was detected in June, Scott Mundle, one of Canada's foremost experts in identifying gases from abandoned wells, told CBC's Windsor Morning that fixing an abandoned well could be difficult.
"This is something that's routinely done and is highly, highly regulated in Western Canada. It's a little bit more challenging in Ontario because the oil and gas sector is actually a lot older, the records aren't quite as good, and the risks are a little bit higher because of the differences in regulation," said Mundle, a geochemistry professor at the University of Windsor.
"Really small amounts of this gas can cause adverse health effects, and even death."
Shropshire said this kind of investigation goes "beyond our expertise as a municipality," and said the Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry has been leading the file since early August.
He said the private sector has been consulted to help identify the source.
"The fact is we still need to know where that gas came from."
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Gas explosion
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Munich air disaster crash
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The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958 when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off from a slush-covered runway at Munich-Riem Airport, West Germany. The aircraft was carrying the Manchester United football team, nicknamed the "Busby Babes", along with supporters and journalists. [1] There were 44 people on board, 20 of whom died at the scene. The injured, some unconscious, were taken to the Rechts der Isar Hospital in Munich where three more died, resulting in 23 fatalities with 21 survivors. The team was returning from a European Cup match in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, having eliminated Red Star Belgrade to advance to the semi-finals of the competition. The flight stopped to refuel in Munich because a non-stop flight from Belgrade to Manchester was beyond the range of the "Elizabethan"-class Airspeed Ambassador. After refuelling, pilots James Thain and Kenneth Rayment twice abandoned take-off because of boost surging in the left engine. Fearing they would fall too far behind schedule, Captain Thain rejected an overnight stay in Munich in favour of a third take-off attempt. By that time, snow was falling, causing a layer of slush to form at the end of the runway. After hitting the slush, the aircraft ploughed through a fence beyond the end of the runway and the left wing was torn off when it struck a house. Fearing the aircraft might explode, Thain began evacuating passengers while Manchester United goalkeeper Harry Gregg helped pull survivors from the wreckage. An investigation by West German airport authorities originally blamed Thain, saying he did not de-ice the aircraft's wings, despite eyewitness statements indicating that de-icing was unnecessary. It was later established that the crash was caused by the slush on the runway, which slowed the plane too much to enable take-off. Thain was cleared in 1968, ten years after the incident. Manchester United were aiming to become the third club to win three successive Football League titles; they were six points behind league leaders Wolverhampton Wanderers with 14 games still to play. They also held the FA Charity Shield and had just advanced into their second successive European Cup semi-finals. The team had not been beaten for 11 matches. The crash not only derailed the team's title ambitions that year but also destroyed the nucleus of what promised to be one of the greatest generations of players in English football history. It took ten years for the club to recover after the tragedy. Busby rebuilt the team and won the European Cup in 1968 with a new generation of "Babes". In April 1955, UEFA established the European Cup, a football competition for the champion clubs of UEFA-affiliated nations, to begin in the 1955–56 season;[2] however, the English league winners, Chelsea, were denied entry by the Football League's secretary, Alan Hardaker, who believed not participating was best for English football. [3] The following season, the English league was won by Manchester United, managed by Matt Busby. The Football League again denied their champions entry, but Busby and his chairman, Harold Hardman, with the help of the Football Association's chairman Stanley Rous, defied the league and United became the first English team to play in Europe. [4]
The team – known as the "Busby Babes" for their youth – reached the semi-finals, beaten there by the eventual winners, Real Madrid. Winning the First Division title again that season meant qualification for the 1957–58 tournament, and their cup run in 1956–57 meant they were one of the favourites to win. Domestic league matches were on Saturdays and European matches midweek, so, although air travel was risky, it was the only choice if United were to fulfil their league fixtures,[5] which they would have to do if they were to avoid proving Alan Hardaker right. [4]
After overcoming Shamrock Rovers and Dukla Prague in the preliminary and first round respectively, United were drawn with Red Star Belgrade of Yugoslavia for the quarter-finals. After beating them 2–1 at Old Trafford on 14 January 1958, the club was to travel to Yugoslavia for the return leg on 5 February. On the way back from Prague in the previous round, fog over England prevented the team from flying back to Manchester, so they flew to Amsterdam before taking the ferry from the Hook of Holland to Harwich and then the train to Manchester. The trip took its toll on the players and they drew 3–3 with Birmingham City at St Andrew's three days later. [6]
Eager not to miss Football League fixtures, and not to have a difficult trip again, the club chartered a British European Airways plane from Manchester to Belgrade for the away leg against Red Star. [7] The match was drawn 3–3 but it was enough to send United to the semi-finals. [8] The takeoff from Belgrade was delayed for an hour after outside right Johnny Berry lost his passport,[9] and the plane landed in Munich for refuelling at 13:15 GMT. [10][11]
The aircraft was a six-year-old Airspeed Ambassador 2, built in 1952 and delivered to BEA the same year. [12]
The pilot, Captain James Thain, was a former RAF flight lieutenant. Originally a sergeant (later a warrant officer), he was given an emergency commission in the RAF as an acting pilot officer on probation in April 1944,[13] and promoted to pilot officer on probation in September that year. [14] He was promoted to flight lieutenant in May 1948,[15] and received a permanent commission in the same rank in 1952. [16] He retired from the RAF to join BEA. The co-pilot, Captain Kenneth Rayment, was also a former RAF flight lieutenant and a Second World War flying ace. After joining the RAF in 1940, he was promoted to sergeant in September 1941. [17] He was commissioned as a war substantive pilot officer a year later,[18] and promoted to war substantive flying officer in May 1943. [19] He shot down five German fighters, one Italian plane and a V-1 flying bomb. He was awarded the DFC in July 1943,[20] and promoted to flight lieutenant in September 1943. [21] After leaving the RAF in 1945, he joined BOAC in Cairo, before joining BEA in 1947. He had had experience with Vikings, Dakotas and the Ambassador "Elizabethan" class. [22]
Thain had flown the "Elizabethan"-class Airspeed Ambassador (registration G-ALZU) to Belgrade but handed the controls to Rayment for the return. [23] At 14:19 GMT, the control tower at Munich was told the plane was ready to take off and gave clearance for take-off, expiring at 14:31. [24] Rayment abandoned the take-off after Thain noticed the port boost pressure gauge fluctuating as the plane reached full power and the engine sounded odd while accelerating. [25] A second attempt was made three minutes later, but called off 40 seconds into the attempt[26] because the engines were running on an over-rich mixture, causing them to over-accelerate, a common problem for the "Elizabethan". [25] After the second failure, passengers retreated to the airport lounge.
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Air crash
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Lafayette’s Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis claims gold in men’s pole vault for Sweden
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by: Scott Lewis, Caroline Marcello TOKYO (KLFY) — Lafayette native Armand ‘Mondo’ Duplantis, 21, claimed the gold medal in men’s pole vaulting this morning at the Tokyo Olympics.
The world record holder claimed the medal with a 6.02-meter (19.75-foot) vault, which comes in one-hundredth of a meter shy of the Olympic record. That record is held by Brazil’s Thiago Braz from 2016. Duplantis set the current world record of 6.18 meters in February 2020 in Glasgow, Scotland. While he did make an attempt to break his own record at a height of 6.19 meters, he was unsuccessful after three attempts.
This is Duplantis’ first Olympics appearance.
Team USA’s Christopher Nilsen won the silver medal with a jump of 5.97 meters. Braz claimed the bronze medal. Fellow American K.C. Lightfoot tied for fourth with a 5.80 leap.
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Break historical records
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2012 Negros earthquake
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The 2012 Negros earthquake occurred on February 6 at 11:49 PST with a body wave magnitude of 6.7 and a maximum intensity of VII (Destructive) off the coast of Negros Oriental, Philippines. The epicenter of the Thrust fault earthquake [6] was approximately 72 kilometres (45 mi) north of the provincial capital of Dumaguete City. [7][8][9]
Recorded intensities according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), Earthquake Intensity Scale (PEIS) were 7 in Dumaguete and V (PEIS) in Cebu. [10] The earthquake was felt as far as Mindanao in the provinces of Misamis and Lanao and as far as Iligan. [11]
The Philippines lies within the Pacific Ring of Fire, which causes the archipelago to have frequent volcanic and seismic activity. The earthquake to hit Negros happened in 1948, but did not cause damage. [12]
According to PHIVOLCS, the earthquake was caused by movement on a previously undiscovered fault. [13] However, according to an Environmental Sciences professor, this fault was already known to private geologists hired by the Negros Occidental government to create a land use map for the province. [14]
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) gave a level two tsunami alert, indicating that the public should be on watch for "unusual waves", but did not call for any evacuation. Despite this, in Cebu City, panic erupts and many residents fled towards higher ground due to rumors that a tsunami had hit the coastal villages of Ermita, Mambaling and Pasil. Residents of Dumaguete also scrambled to the mountain town of Valencia because of the scare. These rumors were later confirmed to be false. PHIVOLCS announced the tsunami alert at 14:30 PST, but there was no tsunami. [12]
The degree and extent of damage caused by the earthquake were significant, with most of the damage sustained during the initial earthquake. The hardest hit were the towns of Tayasan, Jimalalud, La Libertad, and the city of Guihulngan, in Negros Oriental. Several houses and buildings collapsed, while others sustained damage. The earthquake also triggered numerous landslides which buried houses and people. Reported places where landslides occurred are Barangay Solongon, La Libertad and Planas, Guihulngan. [10][12]
Telecommunication services were disrupted after the earthquake. [15]
Several places were cut off, notably the isolated remote towns. Guihulngan, one of the cities and towns affected by the earthquake, suffered extensive damage. Its water services, along with electricity and telecommunications, were reported to be cut off. [16]
After the initial earthquake, the power supply was suddenly cut off in affected areas after power lines were damaged. Power plants in Visayas tripped or shut down following the earthquake, although no major damage was sustained in transmission facilities. On February 8, power was restored in some areas. [3]
The transport network of some parts of Cebu and Negros Oriental suffered severe disruptions. Main arteries were damaged, although automobiles and people can still pass through damaged roads. A small number of roads, especially in the mountainous territories, were likely to be destroyed. A total of three roads and ten bridges were destroyed. [17] Because of damage of roads and bridges, access to some remote villages was cut off. [18] Most of the damage happened in north Negros Oriental, which is more mountainous than the rest of Negros Oriental. [12]
Among the properties destroyed by the earthquake are the public market and the courthouse of Guihulngan. The Aglipay Church in La Libertad also collapsed. [19]
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Earthquakes
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San Francisco newspaper strike of 1994
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The San Francisco newspaper strike of 1994 was a labor dispute called by the Newspaper Guild in November 1994. Employees of San Francisco's two major daily newspapers, the San Francisco Chronicle and The San Francisco Examiner walked off the job for eleven days. San Francisco's two major daily newspapers were longtime rivals that had been working under a joint operating agreement since 1965. [1] Employees had been working without a contract for the past year. Wages were one major issue leading to the strike: while the unions demanded a 3.5 percent annual raise, management offered only a 2.46 percent annual raise over four years. Another point of contention was management's plan to cut the jobs of more than 150 teamster drivers over several years. [2]
Starting on November 1, 1994, some 2,600 reporters, editors, drivers, press operators and paper handlers of the San Francisco Chronicle and The San Francisco Examiner walked off the job. The strike turned violent. Bricks were thrown through paper carriers' windshields as they drove from the newspaper distribution center, and one non-union driver was hit on the head with a lead pipe, suffering a fractured skull. One teamster driver was killed by electricity when scaling a power pole. [3]
At the beginning of the strike, The Examiner's Head of Development Chris Gulker re-launched his pilot web project called the Electric Examiner[4] as The Gate,[5] thus creating the official online version of San Francisco's two big newspapers. This news service remained "heavily dependent on wire-service stories"[6] for lack of contributing journalists and editors. The striking journalists set up their own online newspaper, the San Francisco Free Press,[7] and competed with The Gate as "the soul of the Examiner and the Chronicle. "[8] Led by the Examiner's Associate Editor Bruce Koon and former SF Weekly editor Marcelo Rodriguez,[9] they received assistance from Cynsa Bonorris, who coded the html, and Dave Winer, who pitched in helping automate the production process. [10] The team operated from a makeshift newsroom using their own hardware and a local ISP for rented server space. [11]
The Free Press scored a scoop during its first week, reporting that Senator Dianne Feinstein had been wrongly accused of hiring an undocumented worker in the early 1980s. [12]
During the strike both online newspapers were claiming a total of more than 100,000 readers a day, which was a fraction of the actual newspapers' estimated circulation of 600,000, but far beyond the 10,000 or so people in the Bay Area who had access to them. [12]
On November 12, 1994, after eight straight days of negotiations mediated by San Francisco Mayor Frank Jordan, the newspaper strike came to an end as management and a conference of eight unions announced a tentative agreement. [13]
The two competing electronic newspapers published during the strike have been hailed as "a milestone for online news,"[11] especially since the "speed and relative ease with which both groups published electronic newspapers was a clear demonstration of the power of computers and digital networks for distributing information to a potential audience of millions of computer users worldwide. "[5] The strike "put the Web on the radar screens of news organizations"[11] and triggered an "exodus"[14] of Examiner staff to the web. Among them was David Talbot, who founded Salon.com after the Guild's online newspaper convinced him of the "potential of the new medium. "[15]
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Strike
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1983 TAME 737-200 crash
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The 1983 TAME Boeing 737-200 crash was an aviation incident in which a Boeing 737-2V2 Advanced, operated by the Ecuadorian national airline TAME, which was flying on a domestic route from the now-closed Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito to Mariscal Lamar Airport in Cuenca, crashed into a hill during final approach just 1 mile (1.6 km; 0.87 nmi) from its final destination, killing all 119 people on board. [1]
The crash was the first and deadliest crash in the history of TAME, and it remains as the deadliest plane crash in the history of Ecuador. An investigation later determined that the flight crashed due to the flight crew's lack of experience on the aircraft type, which caused a controlled flight into terrain. [2][3]
The aircraft involved in the accident was a Boeing 737-2V2 Advanced, with Pratt & Whitney type JT8D-17 engines. It was manufactured in 1981 and made its first flight on 11 June of that year. When Boeing delivered it, it was registered as N8283V, but when it arrived in the TAME fleet in October of the same year, its registration changed to HC-BIG. The aircraft was named "Ciudad de Loja" upon its delivery to TAME. [2][4] It was the only Boeing 737 ever operated by the airline. [5] The plane was piloted by captain Jorge Peña and an unnamed first officer. 103 people (95 passengers and all eight crew) came from Ecuador, 11 came from Colombia, and five from the United States. [6][7]
On the morning of 11 July 1983, the aircraft took off from Mariscal Sucre International Airport in Quito for a domestic flight to Mariscal Lamar Airport in Cuenca with 111 passengers and eight crew members. The aircraft encountered foggy conditions during the final approach to Mariscal Lamar Airport, but the weather conditions of that day were reported as clear. The crew contacted the Cuenca control tower for permission to land the plane, which was granted. [6]
During the final few minutes of the flight, the pilots were distracted during a conversation (reportedly discussing labor problems in TAME) and didn't know that the plane was flying dangerously low towards a mountain. Also, at the same time, they were experimenting with some of the aircraft's controls and systems. [citation needed]
Seconds before the plane hit the mountain and 1 mile (1.6 km; 0.87 nmi) from the airport, the Ground Proximity Warning System (GPWS) activated, announcing an imminent terrain collision and sounding an alarm. The captain and first officer attempted to climb clear of the mountain by applying full power on the engines and making a steep climb, but it was too late. The jetliner scraped the peak of Bashún Hill (which overlooks the runway of Marsical Lamar Airport), exploded, and slid down into a ravine; there were no survivors. [8]
Two minutes after the plane signal was lost from the radar screen, Cuenca air traffic control (ATC) declared an emergency. The following day, search aircraft and rescue teams arrived at the plane's last known position. Because of the remoteness and the difficulty of access to the crash site, it took rescue personnel several hours to reach the site itself. [citation needed]
Initial fears of a possible sabotage were advanced by the civil aviation authorities[9][10] after a radio station reported witnesses to a mid-air explosion. [11][7] During the investigation, this was discarded due to lack of evidence. The civil authorities of aviation initiated an investigation, with cooperation of Boeing, Pratt & Whitney and the United States National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). The investigation results were presented several months later and concluded that pilot error was a direct cause in the crash. Several factors were identified: training of the pilots was not properly delivered by TAME for the Boeing 737-2V2 Advanced, the crew was not fully familiar with the controls of the aircraft, and the crew was distracted while trying to locate the runway in heavy fog, as a consequence, the plane went below the minimum safe altitude in a mountainous region with the flight crew ignoring the voice commands of the proximity radar until seconds before impact. [citation needed]
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Air crash
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Maine Shipwreck Identified as Colonial-Era Cargo Vessel
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About two years ago, a nor’easter struck York Beach, Maine, revealing the skeleton of a centuries-old shipwreck beneath the sand. This was far from the first time the mysterious ruin had surfaced, only to disappear again: In fact, the wreck first appeared on the state’s sandy shores in 1958. Now, after decades of anonymity, marine archaeologist Stefan Claesson has found evidence linking the vessel to a colonial-era cargo ship called the Defiance. Claesson presented his findings to the local Board of Selectmen earlier this month, reports Erin Hayes for Seacoast Online. To identify the wreck, he sent pieces of its hull to the Cornell University Tree-Ring Laboratory, which analyzed the samples to determine their age, and visited the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem to do some “good old-fashioned historical research”—namely, looking through nearly 50 years of notary records kept by one Daniel Moulton. The Cornell lab analysis found that the trees used to build the ship were felled in 1753. Though 18th-century sailors often abandoned old, leaky ships on sandbars, the researchers suspect the York Beach ship met its demise under different circumstances. “We think it was probably driven ashore during a storm,” Leith Smith, historic archaeologist for the Main Historic Preservation, tells Dialynn Dwyer of Boston.com, “and it was pushed so far up onto the beach so that it couldn’t be pulled back in the water.” The wreck measures about 50 feet long, but the Defiance itself—a narrow cargo boat known as a pinky—would have stood closer to 60 feet long in its heyday. Claesson identified the vessel after searching notary records for mentions of a shipwreck matching the find’s age, construction style and location. Initially, the archaeologist thought a ship called the Industry was a possible match, but he later realized it had sunk in a different location than the wreck. The Defiance, meanwhile, “fit every description,” as Claesson tells Seacoast Online. The cargo ship, bound for Portland’s Casco Bay, left Salem in 1769. Caught in a storm, it crashed into the rocks along Cape Neddick Cove. “There was a crew of four and they were carrying flour, pork and other supplies,” says Claesson. When the ship hit the rocks, he adds, “[T]hey attempted to save it and bilged the ship. The crew survived, but they couldn’t save it.” The Defiance’s ruins are normally buried under five to six feed of sand, reported Deborah McDermott for Seacoast Online in March 2018. But strong storms occasionally push this sand out of the way, revealing the bottom of the colonial-era hull. Reports of the wreck first appeared in newspapers in 1958; it resurfaced again in 1978, 2007 and 2013. If the ship isn’t reburied by natural shifts in the weather, locals cover it in sand as a protective measure. The pinky-style ship was a common design in the mid-1700s, and with only the bottom of the Defiance’s hull remaining, it proved challenging to identify. “It’s difficult because a ship like that is kind of like the 18-wheeler of today,” Smith tells Boston.com. “Basically, it loads up with all kinds of goods, whatever was being traded, going from port-to-port-to-port. And there were hundreds, if not thousands, of boats doing this.” When the ship was uncovered in 2018, the York Beach police department shared photographs of the scene on Facebook. Then, tourists swarmed the scene, sometimes taking bits of the ship’s rib-like woodwork home with them. Smith says it would be tricky and expensive to try to remove the ship’s remains from its current location. In truth, its sandy resting place actually represents one of the best options for preservation. Moving forward, Claesson hopes to have netting and sand bags set up around the wreck to protect it. He tells Seacoast Online that he’s also searching for additional artifacts and photographs that can build out more of the ship’s story. “I’m not trying to be the archaeology police,” says Claesson. “But people have been interacting with the site for decades. I’d love to see photos or learn anything else about it to be able to tell the full story of the site.” Theresa Machemer
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Motorcyclist dies following Galway road crash
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A motorcyclist has died following a collision in Renmore, Co Galway shortly after 10am this morning. The man, who was in his 40s, was seriously injured when his motorbike was in collision with a car on the R338 Old Dublin Road at Renmore Park. He was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later. The deceased was removed to the mortuary at University Hospital Galway and the local coroner has been notified. The crash site was fully examined by Garda forensic collision investigators and the road has now reopened to traffic. Gardaí in Galway are appealing for witnesses following the fatal traffic collision. Anyone with information is asked to contact Galway Garda Station on 091 538000, the Garda Confidential Line on 1800 666 111, or any Garda station.
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Road Crash
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Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union
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Bulgaria and Romania join the European Union
2 January 2007
On 1 January 2007 the European Union (EU) was enlarged through the accession of two new Member States, namely Bulgaria and Romania.
As from this date, the national central banks (NCBs) of the new Member States are integrated into the European System of Central Banks (ESCB), and their respective Governors become members of the General Council of the European Central Bank (ECB). In addition, experts from these NCBs in the ESCB Committees have member status whenever the committees meet in ESCB composition. Since the Accession Treaties were signed in April 2005, the Governors of the NCBs of the two new Member States and their experts have been participating as observers in the meetings of the General Council and the committees respectively.
The new Member States will not adopt the euro immediately. They will do so once they have fulfilled the requirements laid down in the Treaty establishing the European Community. Unlike Denmark and the United Kingdom, the two new Member States do not have the right to opt out of adopting the single currency.
Both the ECB and the European Commission will prepare convergence reports every two years, or at the request of a “Member State with a derogation”. These reports provide the basis for the EU Council’s decision on whether the Member State concerned fulfils the necessary conditions for the adoption of the euro.
CONTACT
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Join in an Organization
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FAMINE: Africa and Yemen in a Critical Situation
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The first quarter of 2017 was marked by a food crisis affecting approximately fifteen countries, of which four of these regions are suffering from severe famine . The United Nations has sounded the alarm. What is famine? We all have a more or less concrete idea of what it is, but it is not as obvious to answer this question because its definition must be accepted by all of the organizations that come to aid those who are victims of famine. Since 2004, a number of tools and processes have been established, allowing “to analyze and classify the severity of food insecurity following international, scientific standards.” The IPC (Integrated Food Security Phase Classification) is a standardized scale that classifies acute food insecurity according to five phases (IPC info, n.d.). According to the IPC, famine is declared when the following conditions are met: • more than 30% of children are suffering from acute malnutrition; • 2 deaths per 10,000 residents are recorded every day; • a pandemic disease has been declared; • residents have access to less than 4 liters of water per day; • their food intake provides less than 2100 calories per day; • and civil conflicts and large-scale population displacements are observed (Knowles-Coursin, 2017). Which countries are affected? Yemen , South Sudan , Nigeria , and Somalia are currently threatened with a “humanitarian catastrophe.” And children are the first victims. The numbers are dramatically significant. According to the United Nations, famine threatens more than 20 million people in these four regions, 1.4 million of which are children who are at risk of dying of malnourishment. In South Sudan, there are 280,000 children suffering from the most severe form of acute malnutrition. In Nigeria, in the states affected by the conflict, 450,000 children are affected. In Yemen, 2.2 million children are suffering from acute malnutrition, with 462,000 of them severely affected. In Somalia, 185,000 children have been affected and the numbers are dangerously increasing (Gonzales, 2017). Famine is spreading and threatening the sub-regions. Families who are fleeing from violence and the lack of food are seeking refuge in already vulnerable bordering countries. Since the beginning of 2017, more than 60,000 South Sudanese people have fled to neighboring Sudan (Blavignat, 2017). In addition, Ethiopia, Kenya, the Lake Chad Basin, and Uganda are showing alarming levels of food insecurity. A situation caused by climatic conditions and exacerbated by armed conflicts South Sudan has been going through a civil war since December 2013, which has caused tens of thousands of deaths and displaced more than three million people. Thousands of women and children cross the Ugandan border every day. “Persistent conflicts ravage the lives of millions of children and families. The belligerents force people to leave their homes, destroy crops and other means of subsistence as well as impede the efforts of humanitarian organizations […]” (Modola, 2017). Before the war, Yemen purchased 90% of its food abroad. The importation route is completely blocked by the conflict. The problem is mainly political. In Nigeria, millions of people have abandoned their homes and fields to flee the atrocities of Boko Haram or the retaliations of the Nigerian army. Somalia is experiencing drought for the fourth consecutive year and it is linked to the armed conflicts that have ravaged the country for more than twenty years. The situation is alarming. “At the end of February, the Somalian government declared a state of national disaster.” (Macé, 2017). Generally, “if drought is an aggravating factor, famine is always caused by people and major political crises” (Pierre Mendiharat, Director of Operations for Doctors Without Borders) (Longuet, 2017). In addition to this, there is the crucial problem of accessing drinking water. At the end of March, UNICEF warned about the lack of access to clean water. More than 5 million people are deprived of clean water in South Sudan, Nigeria, Somalia, and Yemen. “Shortages of safe water, the lack of adequate sanitation facilities and poor hygienic conditions pose additional risks to children suffering from malnutrition and are likely to trigger fatal diarrhea. (Manuel Fontaine, Director of Emergency Programs at UNICEF) (Blavignat 2017). A Difficult Battle In the face of this urgent and extreme situation, UNICEF’s Sébastien Lyon confirms that the main obstacle is access to the population. “For example, in northern Nigeria, Boko Haram is preventing our teams from getting to the population; our trucks are blocked. As a result, all efforts to respond to these crises are reduced to nothing.” (Gouëset, 2017). An amount of 864 million dollars has been deemed necessary to stop this crisis, but the UN states that only 31% of this sum has been raised (Le Monde, 2017). In the field, UNICEF provides children with emergency care, treatment for malnutrition, vaccines, drinking water, and sanitation facilities as well as mobile health and nutrition services to help the affected families. To prevent children from becoming the first victims of famine, it is necessary and urgent to end human rights violations and harmful policies.
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Famine
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India-Russia joint tri-service excercise 'Indra 2019' concludes
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JE Indra 2019 tri-services exercise will help strengthen mutual confidence and interoperability between the Indian and Russian armed forces. The 10-day long joint exercise Indra 2019 kicked-off on December 10th, 2019 as Russian naval vessels docked at Mormugao in Goa. An opening ceremony was held at the Naval station in Goa to welcome the 700 Russian troops who would be participating in military drills and exercises along with the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force. The exercise will conclude with a 72-hour validation exercise. Indra 2019 will culminate on 19 December with an Integrated Fire Power demonstration and the Closing Ceremony. The India-Russia ten-day long joint exercise "Indra 2019" culminated is currently wrapping up at three locations in India. The exercise will conclude with a 72-hour validation exercise. The massive wargames which had kicked-off on December 10th, as Russian naval vessels docked at Mormugao in Goa. The opening ceremony was held at the naval station in Goa to welcome the 700 Russian troops who participated in the military drills and exercises along with the Indian Army, Navy and Air Force. The grand scale of the exercise symbolises the continued goodwill and continuance of warm relations between the two old friends. Alignment of interest in a global world order has helped maintain all-round good ties between India and Russia. Army - land warfare The Indian Army is believed to have utilised offensive equipment in the land-based exercises which took place in Babina, Uttar Pradesh (near Jhansi). Some of the heavy equipment included the infantry combat vehicle - BMP-1, as well, as the main battle tank T-90M Bhisma, both of Russian origin. Company-sized mechanized infantry contingents and the Ghatak platoon of the Indian Army participated alongside their Russian counterparts in Babina, Uttar Pradesh. The exercise was largely aimed at countering terrorism under the UN mandate. Tactical operations and drills such as cordon house intervention and handling and neutralisation of Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) also took place. Exercise #INDRA 2019#Synergy Tri services contingents of #Russian and #Indian Armed Forces will rehearse #Counter Terrorism drills in ten day Exercise. Aim of exercise is to hone the skills of troops in conduct of counter terrorism operations under the #UnitedNations mandate. "The Russian Federation Navy (RuFN) Ships Yaroslav Mudry, Viktor Konetsky and Elyna arrived in Goa on December 10 to participate in INDRA 2019, the second edition of the tri-services exercise between the Indian and the Russian armed forces," the defence ministry had said in a statement. INS Aditya and RuFN ship Yaroslav Mudry cast-off from Mormugao harbour on December 16, 2019, to commence the sea phase of the joint tri-service exercise. INS Tarkash, INS Aditya and RuFN ship Yaroslav Mudry participated in an encounter exercise and cross-deck flying on the same day. Sea riders were also exchanged between the Indian and Russian ships which was followed by air defence exercise involving four MiG29K aircraft. On Dec 17, a combined boarding team of Indian Navy and Russian Federation Navy personnel conducted boarding exercise to train for anti-piracy operations on a hijacked merchant vessel. Other exercises included firing practice, aviation operations and other manoeuvres like maintaining station and replenishment at sea. Aerial warfare Aerial operations were conducted in the outskirts of Pune, Maharashtra. According to the ministry of defence, the Indian Air Force employed the Su-30MKI multi-role aircraft, Jaguar attack aircraft, MI-17 multi-purpose helicopters and AWACS aircraft. The IAF currently employs its DRDO-made Airborne Warning & Control System(AWCS) on the Brazillian-made Embraer ERJ-145 aircraft. The Air Force Garud commandoes also participated in the exercise as part of counter-terrorism wargames. Pilots of the Russian Federation Air Force also joined their Indian counterparts to pilot the newly inducted and indigenously built HAL Tejas multirole light aircraft. The broad theme for the exercise was to organise a Joint Task Force for undertaking planning and execution of air operations for eliminating terrorists at the request of the third country under UN mandate. However, combined missions between IAF and RFAF were also undertaken for enrichening experience and maximising training value in terms of interoperability. Training together to achieve #Synergy & #Interoperability Exercise #INDRA commences with Joint Opening Ceremony at #Babina.Tri-Services contingents of #Russian & #Indian Armed Forces will rehearse & share best practices in their #CounterTerrorism drills in ten days Exercise. "As part of validation exercise held on 19 December 2019, troops of both the countries carried out specialised joint counter-terrorist operations which was witnessed by dignitaries of services of both countries," the defence ministry said. #SeaPhase of Indo-Russian #Triservice exercise #INDRA 2019 off Goa. #INSTarkash, #INSAditya & #RuFN ship Yaroslav Mudry in #Encounter Exercise & #CrossDeck flying. #SeaRiders exchanged between #IndianNavy & #RuFN ships followed by #AirDefence exercise involving MiG29K aircraft. "The exercise concluded on 19 December 2019 with a ceremonial closing ceremony by both the contingents," the defence ministry added.
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Military Exercise
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The al-Salam Boccaccio '98 went down about 80km (50 miles) off the Egyptian coast during an overnight journey from Duba in Saudi Arabia to Safaga
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Fourteen bodies and about 100 survivors have so far been pulled from the water, Egyptian officials said.
The al-Salam Boccaccio '98 went down about 80km (50 miles) off the Egyptian coast during an overnight journey from Duba in Saudi Arabia to Safaga.
Rescue boats and helicopters are searching the area, but are being hampered by poor weather.
The cause of the sinking is not known, but there were high winds when it left Duba.
The ship was carrying 1,310 passengers and 96 Egyptian crew, Jan Maher, a spokesman for the ship's Egyptian company, el-Salam Maritime Transport, told the BBC.
Most of the passengers were Egyptians working in Saudi Arabia, but some were said to be pilgrims returning from Mecca.
There were about 100 people from other countries, including Saudis and Sudanese, Capt Maher said.
"We don't know how many casualties there are or how the ship sank," he said.
The head of administration at el-Salam Maritime Transport, Adel Shukri, said he was not aware of any SOS from the crew.
The 35-year-old ship had been due to arrive at Safaga at about 0300 local time (0100 GMT).
Why?
Four Egyptian frigates were looking for survivors, said Egyptian Transport Minister Mohammed Lutfy Mansour.
Britain has sent the warship HMS Bulwark to help and it will arrive in a day-and-a-half, the Royal Navy said.
A spokesman for the Egyptian embassy in London, Ayman al-Kaffas, said there was "a vast area of water" for the rescue operation to cover. Asked about the delay in the disappearance being reported, he said the rescue operation had started just after midnight, within an hour or an hour-and-a-half of the ship going missing.
AL-SALAM 98
Capacity: 1,487
Built: Italy 1970
Length: 118m (388ft)
Gross tonnage: 11,779t
Owner: El-Salam Maritime
The general manager of the Saudi branch of maritime insurance company Lloyds said the ship had met all safety requirements.
"The vessel was well equipped with all lifeboats and all her certificates were valid, " Nizam Siddiqui said.
He ruled out the possibility of a collision with another ship, saying the other vessel would have reported the incident.
Shipping expert Paul Beaver told the BBC that overloading should not have been a problem.
There was a possibility one or more of the vehicles the ship was transporting could have moved, particularly in bad weather, he said.
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Shipwreck
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Hospital merger and acquisition activity will remain robust throughout the year, Moody's finds
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M&A activity in the health insurance sector will remain high in 2021, adding to the four significant deals that have already been announced. Jeff Lagasse , Associate Editor Hospitals, health systems and providers, both for-profit and nonprofit, are expected to see continued robust merger and acquisition activity throughout the year, according to a new report from Moody's Investors Service . Larger health systems will pursue M&A to increase market share and to diversify, in terms of both geography and service lines. Smaller providers, meanwhile, have felt the COVID-19 pandemic exact a toll on their financial performance and will likely pursue M&A to gain access to clinical, strategic and financial resources. They'll also want to reduce labor, supply and information technology expenses, the report found. For-profit hospitals, flush with liquidity, will focus their M&A efforts on building up capabilities in nonhospital settings in an effort to meet consumer demand. WHAT'S THE IMPACT? Among large nonprofit systems, consolidation and partnerships will remain widespread. That's because scale and revenue diversification is becoming increasingly important amid a weakening payer mix, where a growing share of reimbursement comes from government insurance programs that tend to pay providers less than commercial insurers. An aging population will exacerbate the trend as an increasing number of older Americans shift to Medicare and, at least during the economic downturn, if unemployed consumers move to Medicaid coverage. Organic growth, though, will be limited by more and more patient care moving to lower-cost nonhospital settings, including those operated by nontraditional providers, which drives down potential reimbursement revenue. Consolidation efforts will be driven in large part by an attraction to new markets and the desire to provide more services. This was seen recently when Virginia-based Sentara Healthcare and North Carolina's Cone health signed a letter of intent to merge. The two entities had no overlapping markets and will look to expand their reach in those two states. Likewise, Michigan-based Trinity Health recently acquired a majority stake in urgent care provider Premier Health, allowing it to increase its multi-state presence and expand its service lines. Nonprofit health systems' revenue has steadily increased over the past decade, which Moody's attributes at least partially to consolidation. Increased scale provides large health systems with greater leverage in negotiations with payers, boosting reimbursement revenue. And the access to clinical and technological resources attracts patients for complex procedures that drive revenue. In the next year to 18 months, M&A activity is poised to increase among for-profit hospitals, which have unprecedented levels of liquidity due to rapid cost reductions and significant CARES Act support early in the pandemic. Consolidation will be focused on enhancing services provided outside the hospital as consumers seek more access points and flexibility, said Moody's. Some health systems opted not to accept CARES Act aid or decided to return it, signaling continued financial health during the pandemic. HCA Healthcare, for example, returned its funds, and yet liquidity improved substantially in FY20. Some CARES Act funding and assistance via federal stimulus programs will not have to be repaid. Portions that do, such as the accelerated Medicare payments, will have to be gradually paid back over the next couple of years, which may partially moderate liquidity. M&A IN OTHER SECTORS According to the report, M&A activity in the health insurance sector will remain high in 2021, adding to the four significant deals that have already been announced so far this year: UnitedHealth Group's $13 billion acquisition of Change Healthcare. Centene Corp.'s $2.2 billion purchase of Magellan Health, which specializes in behavioral health. Anthem's deal for MMM Holdings, the leading Medicare Advantage plan in Puerto Rico, for an undisclosed price. Cigna's acquisition of urgent care telehealth provider MDLive, also for an undisclosed price. The main driver for most of these deals is the desire to move beyond traditional health insurance to contain overall industry costs, which have been increasing above inflation for years. In fact, the actuaries at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services expect healthcare spending by individuals to grow at an increasing rate in the coming year. The large national health insurers will remain the industry's most likely acquirers. But the ability to partner with Big Tech or other insurers will also enable smaller insurers to gain access to industry innovations at some level. Branded pharmaceutical companies, meanwhile, will pursue M&A to improve their diversification, accelerate top-line growth and strengthen their pipeline. On the flip side, generic drug manufacturers tend to lack the financial flexibility to make large acquisitions, limited as they are by high financial leverage and sizable litigation headaches, according to Moody's. THE LARGER TREND Mergers and acquisitions are picking back up after a tumultuous 2020, but overall M&A activity didn't take as big of a hit as revenue and operating margins. Transaction volumes were down from the norm, but only slightly , suggesting the public health crisis may be strengthening the rationale for future partnerships. One of the reasons providers in particular choose consolidation is the belief that the patient experience will benefit as a result, but findings from January 2020 suggest this may not be the case: Research from the New England Journal of Medicine discovered that acquired hospitals actually saw a patient experience that was moderately worse, on average. What's more, 30-day mortality and readmission rates stayed largely the same at such facilities. The only real improvement that was found among the majority of acquired entities was in the realm of clinical process, which improved modestly. But the improvement was so incremental that it couldn't be linked to the actual acquisition, and prices for commercially insured patients tended to be higher.
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Organization Merge
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First body pulled from Zimbabwe gold mine disaster
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File: Rescue workers busy at work installing a water pump to drain water from a mine shaft so that they can gain access to at least 40 informal gold miners trapped inside a collapsed shaft at Ran Mine in Bindura, November 26, 2020. Jekesai Njikizana/AFP HARARE - Rescuers on Monday retrieved one body from a disused Zimbabwe gold mine where dozens of informal miners were feared trapped inside since a shaft collapsed last week, officials said. Around 40 people are thought to be stuck underground in the town of Bindura, around 70 kilometres northeast of the capital Harare, where the disaster occurred five days ago. Six miners were rescued and taken to hospital within hours, after which rescue efforts were hampered by heavy rain and groundwater flooding. Rescuers and volunteers have spent days pumping water out of the flooded shaft and pulled the first body out of the rubble on Monday. "One male body ...has been retrieved this afternoon from the tunnel," tweeted government spokesman Nick Mangwana. "The body was beneath the rubble which was underneath the water in the collapsed tunnel." Zimbabwe Miners Federation's deputy head Christine Munyoro also confirmed the recovery of the body. Munyoro reported the death of another miner who had volunteered to help the rescuers and drowned after a stone knocked him into the flooded tunnel over the weekend. READ: Zimbabwe mine shaft collapse leaves about 40 people trapped Scores of miners had been working inside the disused Ran Gold Mine when the ground caved in. Although the site was officially closed 10 years ago, some workers remained behind to extract residual gold along with other unemployed people who came to work there. Mining is a major source of foreign currency for Zimbabwe, where gold alone accounts for 60 percent of exports and employs nearly 10 percent of the population. The bulk of the gold is extracted by artisanal and small-scale miners, who were responsible for 63 percent of the recorded production last year, according to official statistics. Those miners often operate illegally to avoid selling their bullion to the state-owned buyer, Fidelity Printers and Refiners, as they are paid only 55 percent in foreign currency. The remaining 45 percent is paid in Zimbabwean dollars, which is notoriously weak and volatile. Accidents are relatively common in decommissioned mines, particularly when the ground is loosened by downpours. Munyoro said rain started again on Monday afternoon, shortly after the first body was retrieved, forcing rescuers to pause for the day.
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Mine Collapses
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2010 Mount Meager landslide
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The 2010 Mount Meager landslide was a large catastrophic debris avalanche that occurred in southwestern British Columbia, Canada, on August 6 at 3:27 a.m. PDT (UTC-7). More than 45,000,000 m3 (1.6×109 cu ft) of debris slid down Mount Meager, temporarily blocking Meager Creek and destroying local bridges, roads and equipment. It was one of the largest landslides in Canadian history and one of over 20 landslides to have occurred from the Mount Meager massif in the last 10,000 years. Although voluminous, there were no fatalities caused by the event due in part to its remote and uninhabited location. The landslide was large enough to send seismic waves more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi) away into the neighbouring U.S. states of Alaska and Washington and beyond. Multiple factors led to the slide: Mount Meager's weak slopes have left it in a constant state of instability. Mount Meager, located 150 km (93 mi) north of Vancouver, is a peak of the Mount Meager massif. [3][4] This is a group of coalescent stratovolcanoes and the largest volcanic centre in the Garibaldi Volcanic Belt. [5][6] It comprises about 20 km3 (4.8 cu mi) of eruptive rocks that were deposited during four distinct eruptive periods, the first beginning 2.2 million years ago. [6][3] During the present period (beginning 150,000 years ago), it has erupted more than five times, producing ash falls, pyroclastic flows, lava flows and lahars. [3][7][8] The only identified Holocene eruption was in about 410 BC and created a diverse sequence of volcanic deposits well exposed along the Lillooet River. [8][9] This is the most recent major explosive eruption in British Columbia, as well as the largest known Holocene explosive eruption in Canada. [8][9]
The massif has been a source of large volcanic debris flows for the last 8,000 years, many of which have reached several tens of kilometres downstream in the Lillooet River valley. [6] It is arguably the most unstable mountain massif in Canada and may also be its most active landslide area. [6][1] The earliest identified Holocene landslide was in 7900 BP and further landslides occurred in 6250 BP, 5250 BP, 4400 BP, 2600 BP, 2400 BP, 2240 BP, 2170 BP, 1920 BP, 1860 BP, 870 BP, 800 BP, 630 BP, 370 BP, 210 BP, 150 BP and in 1931, 1947, 1972, 1975, 1984, 1986 and 1998. [6] These events were attributed to structurally weak volcanic rocks, glacial unloading, recent explosive volcanism and Little Ice Age glacial activity. [1]
At 3:27 a.m. PDT on August 6, 2010, the southern 2,554 m (8,379 ft) peak of Mount Meager collapsed in a series of major rockfalls. The rockfalls fell approximately 500 m (1,600 ft) onto Meager's weak and heavily saturated south flank where they destabilized a significant volume of material, forming a highly mobile, very rapid debris flow. The debris flow travelled the entire 7 km (4.3 mi) length of Capricorn Creek then inundated both the Meager Creek and Lillooet River valleys. Meager Creek was dammed for about 19 hours during which time water had built up behind the dam to create a 1.5 km (0.93 mi) long lake. The landslide dam ultimately failed into the Lillooet River valley, releasing roughly 2,650,000 m3 (94,000,000 cu ft) of water towards Pemberton with an average velocity of approximately 2.5 m/s (8.2 ft/s). [1] No deaths or injuries were associated with the event. [1][2]
A study conducted by Guthrie et al. (2012) concluded that groundwater played a key role in the collapse. Prior to failure the flanks of Meager were subject to high pore water pressures indicated by extensive surface seepage observed throughout the failure surface and along lateral shears following the 2010 event. The largest visible bedrock spring occurred along the west lateral scarp and was the location of at least two previous landslides, occurring in 1998 and 2009. Water supply was exacerbated by summer melt of snow and ice, causing even greater saturation of slopes. [1]
With a volume of approximately 48,500,000 m3 (1.71×109 cu ft), the 2010 landslide was comparable in volume to the 1965 Hope Slide, making it one of the largest in Canadian history. [1][10] The landslide consisted mainly of intrusive porphyritic rhyodacite, lava flows and breccia derived from the Capricorn and Plinth assemblages, which are the most recently formed geological formations comprising the Mount Meager massif. [5]
Despite the remote location of the landslide, the event had considerable socioeconomic impact. Approximately 110,000 m3 (3,900,000 cu ft) of wood was stripped away from the slopes of Capricorn Creek and Meager Creek and the Lillooet River valley bottom and either pulverized into fine organic material or transported as large woody debris into the river system. The wood was a mixture of western hemlock, amabilis and subalpine firs, western red cedar and to a lesser extent lodgepole pine and balsam poplar. The total potential loss based on the markets at the time of the event was C$8.7 million. In addition, road construction equipment and two forest service bridges were destroyed, along with several kilometres of roads including almost 6 km (3.7 mi) of the Meager Creek forest service road. [1]
The landslide and the subsequent threat of a dam outburst flood on Meager Creek caused the evacuation of approximately 1,500 residents in the lower Lillooet River valley for one night and rescue efforts for several campers and workers in the vicinity of Mount Meager. Sediment moving downstream puts pressure on the Pemberton district diking system, raising the effective flood levels. The obliteration of Capricorn Creek and inundation of Meager Creek will have long-lasting environmental effects. In total, direct costs associated with the event were estimated at C$10 million. If gravel removal or dike elevation changes become necessary as a result of the increased sediment load, the total long-term costs of this landslide could exceed the direct costs. [1]
The landslide generated long-period seismic waves that were visible at seismograph stations from southern California to northern Alaska, up to 2,800 km (1,700 mi) away. No known earthquake was associated with the failure, but the event itself was assigned an equivalent local magnitude of 2.6 by the Canadian National Seismograph Network. [1]
Landslides do not always generate identifiable seismic signatures due in part to their slower source process and poor ground coupling as compared to earthquakes. Seismic energy conversion rates for similar events are estimated to be as low as 0.01% of the kinetic energy and 1% of the potential energy released by the slide. It requires an extremely energetic source to generate waves high enough in amplitude to be visible for thousands of kilometres. The seismogenic nature of this landslide was a result of the large volume of material involved and the extremely rapid velocities. [1]
Four people witnessed the event and were in extreme jeopardy on several occasions during and immediately following the landslide. K. Kraliz, J. Duffy, J. Tilley and P. Smith arrived at upper Lillooet forest campsite at 3:25 a.m. PDT and began unloading their gear. They were surprised by "two large cracks" (loud explosive noises, not physical cracks in the ground) occurring in quick succession, followed by a rumbling that initially sounded like a train or a forest fire, but that grew to a deafening volume in about 20 seconds. All four campers got back into their truck and headed for higher ground. Chaos ensued for the next few hours before daylight as they encountered debris flows, mud, falling trees and other hazards at the edge of the landslide deposit in the Lillooet River valley.
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Volcano Eruption
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Plague of crickets besieges town / Elko, Nev., residents fight ...
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Plague of crickets besieges town / Elko, Nev., residents fight back swarm of ravenous bugs that marched in, took over
Chuck Squatriglia, Chronicle Staff Writer
June 22, 2003
Thousands of Mormon crickets invade the Spring Creek, NV Post Office 6/15. Millions of Mormon crickets descend on northeastern Nevada.
2003-06-22 04:00:00 PDT Elko, Nevada -- The shopping center was awash in Mormon crickets. Thousands and thousands of them.
They covered the parking lot. The sidewalk. The walls. Everything. Grimacing employees tried in vain to push the skittering bugs back with brooms.
Disgusted parents carried their children or pushed them in shopping carts through the hopping swarm. The air was thick with their formaldehyde-like smell and the pavement streaked with their remains.
"I saw all those crickets and just about had a heart attack," said Elko County Commissioner John Ellison . "Everything was just covered with them."
For the past four years, a cricket plague has besieged large swaths of Nevada, Utah and Idaho, but the worst outbreak in five decades had somehow missed Elko County -- until recent weeks.
No one can say just how many Mormon crickets are marching across the West, but entomologists said there could be as many as 20,000 per acre in the hardest-hit areas. The economic impact of all those crop-munching bugs has yet to be tallied, but a cricket invasion in 2001 caused $25 million worth of damage in Utah alone.
The Mormons who christened the crickets in 1848 whacked them with clubs, drowned them with water and burned them with torches. When those measures failed to end the plague, they prayed. Legend has it their prayers were answered by a flock of seagulls that came from Great Salt Lake to devour the crickets.
There are no seagulls in Elko County. But the county found something equally effective.
The insect infestation in Elko County began early this month, before anyone knew what was happening.
Starting from Lamoille Summit -- whose signature "E" overlooks the town of Elko but little else except juniper and sage -- the bugs moved east and south.
The insects don't fly; they march, and in armies of up to 100,000. They have voracious appetites and can cover a mile a day, chewing through four times their weight in vegetation as they go.
It wasn't long before the crickets had overrun a neighborhood and a shopping center.
"It just blew up overnight," Ellison said. "Houses were just covered."
So was the post office, and the supermarket, and everything else in the shopping center, where many people took one look and hightailed it out of there.
"We lost half of our business at least," said postal clerk Gordon Hayes . "People just didn't want to stop."
The crickets surrounded the hospital, setting off the motion detectors that open the doors. They poured across roads, leaving them slick with their crushed carcasses. And they fled ahead of a wildfire in a column that one sheriff's deputy swore was a mile long.
As word of the invasion spread, tourists began canceling reservations at the casinos in town. Locals began to wonder whether they'd ever turn back the tide of bugs running roughshod over one-third of the nation's fourth-largest county.
For the record, the crickets aren't really crickets, but shieldbacked katydids misnamed by the Mormon settlers in Utah who watched helplessly as the insects devoured their crops. Cousins of grasshoppers, they are reddish as juveniles and black as adults. They can reach 2 to 3 inches in length.
"I once heard a scientist say the only species that could replace humans for dominance of the planet is insects," said Spring Creek resident Amy Flammang . "I laughed then, but I believe it now."
County commissioners declared a state of emergency. They begged the state and their congressman for help.
And then they raised an army.
Every great army needs a great leader, and in Elko County, the job fell to Holly Gregory , a local businesswoman whom folks have taken to calling the Cricket Queen.
Gregory and her husband, Jim, own half a dozen rental properties in Elko and weren't about to see them overrun. They put their son P.J. and five other men to work defending the county.
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Insect Disaster
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New York City Teacher's Strike of 1968
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State of New York
State of Pennsylvania
The New York City teachers' strike of 1968 was a months-long confrontation between the new community-controlled school board in the largely black Ocean Hill–Brownsville neighborhoods of Brooklyn and New York City's United Federation of Teachers. It began with a one day walkout in the Ocean Hill-Brownsville school district. It escalated to a citywide strike in September of that year, shutting down the public schools for a total of 36 days and increasing racial tensions between Blacks and Jews. Thousands of New York City teachers went on strike in 1968 when the school board of the neighborhood, which is now two separate neighborhoods, transferred a set of teachers and administrators, a normal practice at the time. The newly created school district, in a mostly black neighborhood, was an experiment in community control over schools—the dismissed workers were almost all white and Jewish. The United Federation of Teachers (UFT), led by Albert Shanker, demanded the teachers' reinstatement and accused the community-controlled school board of anti-semitism. At the start of the school year in 1968, the UFT held a strike that shut down New York City's public schools for nearly two months. The strike pitted community against union, highlighting a conflict between local rights to self-determination and teachers' universal rights as workers. [1] Although the school district itself was quite small, the outcome of its experiment had great significance because of its potential to alter the entire educational system—in New York City and elsewhere. As one historian wrote in 1972: "If these seemingly simple acts had not been such a serious threat to the system, it would be unlikely that they would produce such a strong and immediate response. "[2]
From the 1880s through the 1960s, Brownsville was predominantly Jewish and politically radical. The Jewish population consistently elected socialist and American Labor Party candidates to the state assembly and was a strong supporter of unionized labor and collective bargaining. Margaret Sanger chose Brownsville as the site of America's first birth control clinic because she knew the community would be supportive. [3]
In 1940, Blacks made up 6% of Brownsville's population. By 1950, their numbers had doubled. Most of these new residents were poor and occupied the neighborhood's most undesirable housing. [4] Although the neighborhood was racially segregated, there was more public mixing and solidarity among Blacks and Jews than could be found in most other neighborhoods. [5]
Around 1960, the neighborhood underwent a rapid demographic shift. Citing increased crime and their desire for social mobility, Jews left Brownsville en masse, to be replaced by more Blacks and some Latinos. By 1970, Brownsville was 77% Black and 19% Puerto Rican. [6] Furthermore, Brownsville was frequently ignored by Black civil rights organizations such as the NAACP and Urban League[7] whose Brooklyn chapters were based in nearby Bedford-Stuyvesant and were overall less concerned with the issues of the lower income Blacks who had moved into Brownsville, thus further isolating Brownsville's population. These changes corresponded to overall increases in segregation and inequality in New York City, as well as to the replacement of blue-collar with white-collar jobs. [8]
The newly Black Brownsville neighborhood had few community institutions or economic opportunities. It lacked a middle class, and its residents did not own the businesses they relied upon. [9]
Despite the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown v. Board ruling against segregated schools, educational segregation in Brooklyn actually increased in the following years, due to segregationist districting and school construction. [10] Some whites on the neighborhood's periphery lobbied with the school board against the building of a new school that would draw a racially diverse population. They were opposed by Blacks, Latinos, and pro-integration whites, but nevertheless succeeded in functionally limiting the new school's racial makeup. [11]
In the years before the strike, Brownsville's schools had become extremely overcrowded, and students were attending in shifts. [12] Junior High School 271, which became the nexus of the strike, was constructed in 1963 to accommodate Brownsville's expanding population of youth. The school's performance was low from the outset, with most students testing below grade level in reading and math, and few advancing to the city's network of elite high schools. [13]
New York City's school system was controlled by the Central Board of Education, a notoriously large and centralized bureaucracy headquartered at 110 Livingston Street in Brooklyn. [14] It became clear to activists in the 1960s that the Central School Board was uninterested in pursuing mandatory integration; their frustration led them away from desegregation and into the struggle for community control. [15]
Brownsville's teachers were members of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), a new union Local that had recently displaced the more leftist Teachers' Union (TU). [16][17] The TU, which contained active socialist and communist members campaigned actively for racial equality, desegregation, and other radical political goals. [18]
The UFT held a philosophy of limited pluralism, according to which different cultures could maintain some individuality under the umbrella of an open democratic society. The union also championed individualist values and meritocracy. [19] Some called its policies 'race-blind' because it preferred to frame issues in terms of class. [20] The UFT contained a high proportion of Jews. [21]
Membership in the American Federation of Teachers, the national union of which the UFT is a part, had increased dramatically during the 1960s, as had the rate of teachers' strikes. [21]
In 1964, Bayard Rustin and Reverend Milton Galamison coordinated a citywide boycott of public schools to protest de facto segregation. Prior to the boycott, the organizers asked the UFT Executive Board to join the boycott or ask teachers to join the picket lines. The union, however, declined, promising only to protect from reprisals any teachers who participated. More than 400,000 New Yorkers participated in a one-day February 3, 1964, boycott, and newspapers were astounded both by the numbers of black and Puerto Rican parents and children who boycotted and by the complete absence of violence or disorder from the protestors. It was, a newspaper account accurately reported, "the largest civil rights demonstration" in American history, and, Rustin argued that "the movement to integrate the schools will create far-reaching benefits" for teachers as well as students. However, when protesters announced plans to follow up the February 3 boycott with a second one on March 16, the UFT declined to defend boycotting teachers from reprisals. Later, at the time of the 1968 school crisis, Brooklyn CORE leader Oliver Leeds and Afro-American Teachers Association President Al Vann would cite the UFT's refusal to support the 1964 integration campaign as proof that an alliance between the teachers' union and the black community was impossible. [22]
The UFT's program for poor Black schools was called "More Effective Schools". Under this program class sizes would shrink and teachers would double or triple up for individual classes. Although the UFT expected this program to be popular, it was challenged by the African-American Teachers Association (ATA; originally the Negro Teachers Association), a group whose founders in 1964 were also part of the UFT. The ATA felt that New York City's teachers and schools perpetuated a system of entrenched racism, and in 1966 it began campaigning actively for community control.
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Strike
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Covid Will Leave Deep Scars in World Economy Even After Recovery
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In the 1970s, they started a paint and wallpaper business. Then, after the housing bubble burst in the Great Recession, the couple delivered cars for Enterprise. Five years later, they were fielding customer returns at Target. But the pandemic brought that to an end. Now, in their mid-80s, the Portes are unemployed. They’re among thousands of older Americans pushed out of work since the spring. The Covid recession has sidelined many of them for long stretches — making it harder to get another job at an age that makes employers already be less inclined to hire them. The Portes, who live in Richmond, Virginia, don’t hold a grudge. In fact, losing their jobs likely saved their lives due to their heightened Covid risk, they said. And the ordeal has brought them closer together, even after 63 years of marriage. But they’d like to work again, when they feel it’s safe to do so. They miss their co-workers, the camaraderie, meeting new people, the exercise. Money has also been tight without the extra income. “I enjoyed so much visiting the people in the store, doing the job we did and getting away from the house,” Dan, 86, said. “We’d still work if anyone would let us,” he added. “When you get to this age, people don’t look at you for work.” Two million people over age 55 were unemployed in January, according to an analysis of federal data published by the AARP Public Policy Institute. They accounted for roughly 1 in 5 jobless Americans. Like the Portes, many out-of-work seniors are “long-term unemployed,” meaning they’ve been out of a job at least six months, a period of greater financial risk. Half of jobless workers over age 55 were long-term unemployed in January, compared with 35% of younger adults, according to AARP. So far, Dan and Grace have been able to make ends meet with Social Security. But money is tight. They relied on jobs at Target, where they worked four days a week, to supplement Social Security benefits. The retailer furloughed the couple in March but kept them on payroll, even upping their pay to $15 an hour, a $2 raise. In late April, they lost the jobs outright. More from Personal Finance:Long-term unemployment is close to a Great Recession recordHow Biden’s $1.9 trillion relief plan would avoid a benefits cliffA $15 minimum wage is out of the latest stimulus package for now Unemployment aid helped for a while but ran out in September. They don’t have retirement savings to fall back on, either — a broker put their nest egg in an investment that went bust in the 2008 financial crisis, costing them approximately $240,000. “There it went,” Grace, 85, said of the money. “I said, ‘I think maybe we should get a job’ when Dan asked what we should do.” The duo have had an active — and colorful — job history. Grace, born in 1935, grew up in rural Nebraska, “about 8 miles from nowhere,” working in a post office and drug store in her youth. She and Dan met in Omaha, where he was stationed at an Air Force base, in their early 20s. By then, Dan had already served in Tachikawa, Japan, on the outskirts of Tokyo, as a radar and radio technician during the Korean War. A star athlete, he played for the Red Devils baseball team, which won the Far East Air Force championship during his tenure. The squad even played the New York Yankees, at a time when legends like Yogi Berra and Whitey Ford were on the roster. (They lost 16-2.) “Those guys were good,” Dan, a pitcher and centerfielder, said. “They beat the hell out of us.” He proposed to Grace on Christmas Day in 1957. They wed in April and he was discharged the next day, concluding eight years of service. The couple returned to Baltimore, Dan’s hometown, before relocating to Richmond in 1966 when Dan became an assistant division manager at RJ Reynolds Tobacco Company. He was sometimes tasked with going to colleges to hand out free cigarettes at lunch, a task he thoroughly disliked and which led to his departure. The couple then started their own company, Proud Performance, after neighbors began soliciting their home-remodeling help. A few decades later, at Enterprise, the duo were delivering cars to various locations. Pickup trucks gave Grace some trouble due to her height — at 4′8″ she had to sit on phone books to see the road. At Target, the octogenarians, who re-stocked the shelves with returned items, were the oldest workers by a wide margin, they said. “Our whole life has been exciting,” she said. “It’s been a lot of fun.” The retailer had to eliminate their positions when customer returns began drying up. Without part-time income, the couple has been getting by on around $1,700 a month in combined Social Security benefits. A third of it — around $570 — goes to a health plan to supplement their Medicare. “It’s tight,” Grace said. “We’re very frugal.” Many adults depend on wage income to cover gaps in their budget, an issue exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, according to Lisa Marsh Ryerson, president of AARP Foundation, a charitable arm of the advocacy group. It’s often harder to find a job after long unemployment spells, and those who find work generally do so at lower pay, according to labor economists. It’s especially hard for older workers due to potential age discrimination, Ryerson said, or other factors like outdated job skills. “Senior poverty, or the risk of it, is a problem that’s so often hidden in plain sight,” she said. “Longer lives will be poorer lives for far too many people.” Meanwhile, costs are rising faster for seniors than other age groups due to inflated prices for medical and other services often consumed by older individuals. The Portes collected unemployment benefits from May to September. They may be eligible for additional weeks of benefits from a $900 billion relief package signed by former President Donald Trump in December. “The big help was the stimulus we got,” Grace said of a $600-a-week boost in benefits offered by the CARES Act, which ended in July. “It didn’t last long.” National data doesn’t break out aid recipients by age, but state-level data is telling. In California, more than half of all the seniors in the state’s labor force — about 617,000 people between 65 and 85 — have applied for unemployment benefits since mid-March, according to the California Policy Lab. The only group with a larger share were 16- to 24-year-olds. Nearly two-thirds of their labor force applied for benefits during the pandemic. Young people tend to work in industries most impacted by the pandemic, like retail, hospitality and food services, according to Till von Wachter, an economist and director of the California Policy Lab. By contrast, most seniors in the Golden State applied for benefits through the federal Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program, suggesting they have a larger share of small-business owners and that older individuals had been scared by heightened Covid risks in the workplace, von Wachter said. Last week, Dan and Grace stopped by the local Target and their old manager asked if they wanted to come back to work. They were flattered but declined (for the time being) due to Covid risks. For their part, the couple radiate optimism and positivity and are in some ways grateful for what’s happened. “All it does is bring us closer together,” Dan said of their financial challenges. “We sit and talk, go over these things and try to figure out how to handle them.”
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Financial Crisis
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Mauritania: Locust alert in northwest - ReliefWeb
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10 Oct 2006
[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]
NOUAKCHOTT, 10 October (IRIN) - Swarms of desert locusts have been sighted in the remote northwest Mauritanian province Inchiri, 250 km west of the capital Nouakchott, raising fears of a locust invasion at the height of the growing season.
Just a small swarm of locusts can eat as much food in a day as 2,500 people.
According to the National Locust Centre of Mauritania, the locusts are currently in the mating stage and have been laying eggs, with hatchings expected to occur in the next 10 days.
"These first stages seem to indicate that these are locusts similar to those observed since the beginning of the year in different areas. We believe that they are a native species," Mohamed Abdalahi Ould Babah, director at the centre, said.
There is concern in Mauritania that this new batch of locusts will continue to spread. Vegetation is flourishing as the normally desert-country bristles with maize and sorghum crops at the end of a strong growing season. The affected zone has high levels of humidity which encourages locust breeding, experts said.
Three units of ground treatment and nine canvassing teams have been deployed, including five to the affected region, which is considered an area of prime grazing land for cattle breeders.
"A military plane has also been mobilised but at the moment the area requiring treatment is not large enough to warrant its use," said Ould Babah.
The Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO) is sending a helicopter to help survey larger areas that are difficult to reach by land.
"Adjacent countries have been alerted," said Wen Mullier of FAO in West Africa. Survey teams will be monitoring Senegal, Mali, Niger, and the southern parts of Morocco and Algeria, which all could potentially be affected.
The FAO said it will use the situation to do field trials of a bio-pesticide called Green Muscle.
A major outbreak of locusts in West Africa in 2004 stripped agricultural land throughout the desperately poor region at the height of the harvest season, leaving many of the region's subsistence farmers with nothing to eat for the year ahead.
Since January 2005, few locusts have been sighted in Mauritania and only a few hundred hectares of land have been treated.
mpo/kdd/nr
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Insect Disaster
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TasNetworks fined again after cutting power to people on life support without warning
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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
A state-owned power utility has been fined after it cut electricity supply to 20 people on life support systems without warning, it has been revealed — the latest in a track record of over a dozen similar breaches since 2014.
Tasmania's utility TasNetworks paid three infringement notices totalling $60,000 and "signed a court-enforceable undertaking to address deficiencies in the way it manages its planned interruptions, particularly those affecting life support customers" following action taken by the Australian Energy Regulator (AER).
In a statement, the AER said TasNetworks conducted "three planned interruptions to supply without providing affected life support customers with four business days' written notification" between August 2018 and November 2018 — a situation it said "must not be repeated".
"People who rely on life support equipment should expect their distributor will provide them with the legally required notice to planned interruptions to their supply," AER chair Clare Savage said.
"Robust enforcement ensuring compliance with the law is vital in building consumer trust that businesses are doing the right thing," she said.
The first planned interruption "affected one life support customer, the second 18 and the third another customer", AER said, without detailing the nature of the impact to those affected.
Ms Savage said she was "encouraged that TasNetworks has agreed to provide a comprehensive court-enforceable undertaking outlining the steps they'll take to ensure this doesn't happen again".
The AER database shows that between June 2014 and November 2018, TasNetworks was issued 13 separate infringement notices over "incidents where customers known to require life support equipment unexpectedly lost electricity supply".
Some outages affected multiple premises, while the details of other outages are unclear as to how many customers lost power — or whether the same customers experienced repeated cuts to their supply.
An infringement notice for an outage on August 7, 2018 was for a loss of power that lasted for over seven hours.
Each infringement notice attracted a penalty of $20,000.
Following the latest outages, AER said the court-enforceable undertaking required TasNetworks to:
The AER said it was "committed to protecting vulnerable customers as part of its robust compliance and enforcement strategy," Ms Savage said.
"The AER takes life support matters very seriously. The protections in place for vulnerable customers such as these are the law and we will enforce the law when it is breached. "Every other business dealing with life support customers should consider themselves on notice," she said.
In a statement, a TasNetworks spokesperson said "life-support customers are a crucial priority" and "we've learned from previous notification breaches".
"We're reviewing our contact process, introducing new rules, and educating employees to improve performance," the spokesperson said.
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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American Airlines Flight 1 crash
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American Airlines Flight 1 was a domestic, scheduled passenger flight from New York International (Idlewild) Airport (now John F. Kennedy International Airport) to Los Angeles International Airport. On March 1, 1962, the Boeing 707 rolled over and crashed into Jamaica Bay two minutes after takeoff, killing all 87 passengers and eight crew members aboard. A Civil Aeronautics Board investigation determined that a manufacturing defect in the autopilot system led to an uncommanded rudder control system input, causing the accident. A number of notable people died in the crash. It was the fifth fatal Boeing 707 accident, and at the time, the deadliest. [1]
The aircraft was a Boeing 707-123B, registered as N7506A. It was the 12th Boeing 707 constructed [2] and was delivered to American Airlines on February 12, 1959. At the time of the crash, it had accumulated 8,147 flight hours. Its last periodic inspection had occurred on January 18, 1962, at 7,922 hours. [3] The flight crew consisted of Captain James Heist (56), First Officer Michael Barna Jr. (35), Second Officer Robert Pecor (32), and Flight Engineer Robert Cain (32). [3][page needed]
The aircraft received instructions to taxi to Runway 31L at 9:54 am EST, and clearance to proceed to Los Angeles nonstop under instrument flight rules (IFR) at 10:02 am. Flight 1 became airborne at 10:07 am. Following American Airlines procedures and departure control instructions, the aircraft initiated a left turn to a heading of 290°. [3] In the course of the turn, at 1,600 feet, the aircraft banked too sharply, flipped past 90°, and began an upside-down, nose-first descent in a nearly vertical dive. [3]
Flight 1 crashed into Pumpkin Patch Channel, Jamaica Bay, at 10:08:49, while angled at 78° and on a magnetic heading of 300°. [3] Passengers aboard a Mohawk Airlines plane bound for Albany that took off immediately after Flight 1 watched the plane plunge into the bay. [4][5] The jet exploded upon impact, a tall splash of brackish water and black smoke erupted from the site, and the scattered debris and fuel caught fire. [4] Long Island residents described hearing explosions that shook the foundations of nearby houses, though no one on the ground is known to have witnessed the airliner hitting the swamp. However, a few men at Naval Air Station New York/Floyd Bennett Field saw the massive column of water rising above the hangars, and one guard—at his post on the Cross Bay Bridge—saw the aircraft roll over. [5][6]
The aircraft crashed into a remote area of marshland on Jamaica Bay used as a wildlife sanctuary. [5] Upwards of 300 policemen and fire fighters, including 125 detectives attending a narcotics seminar at the police academy, as well as Coast Guard helicopters, were mobilized to the crash site within half an hour of the crash for rescue operations, only to find no survivors. [5][6] The three-alarm fire was under control by 10:50 am, when only wreckage remained. [6] Low tides aided search personnel in their attempts to recover bodies from the downed aircraft. Only a few bodies remained intact. [5]
The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) received notification of the accident at 10:10 am and immediately sent investigators to Jamaica Bay to conduct an investigation. The flight recorder was found on March 9 and sent to Washington, DC, for analysis. [7] Public hearings were held at the International Hotel in New York on March 20–23, 1962. [3]
Investigators were unable to recover sufficient body tissue to determine whether the crew had been physically incapacitated at the time of the crash. [3] Toxicology reports conclusively ruled out toxic gases, alcohol, and drugs as possible cause for the crash. [3] Milton Helpern, Chief Medical Examiner, decided that having relatives attempt visual identification of the crash victims was inhumane and ordered dental and fingerprint comparisons. [4] In early July, the CAB announced their investigators believed that a cotter pin and a bolt missing from the rudder mechanism might have caused Flight 1's crash. Though considered to be a "mechanic's oversight", the CAB nevertheless wired all 707 operators to inform them of the potential danger of the assembly. [8]
In January 1963, the CAB released its aircraft accident report stating that the "most likely abnormality" to have caused the crash was a short circuit caused by wires in the automatic piloting system that had been damaged in the manufacturing process. It stated that the probable cause of the accident was "...rudder control system malfunction producing yaw, sideslip, and roll leading to a loss of control from which recovery was not effective"[3] and concluded "that a rudder servo malfunction due to shorted wires is the most likely abnormality to have produced the accident. "[3]
CAB inspectors had inspected units at a Bendix Corporation plant in Teterboro, New Jersey, and discovered workers using tweezers to bind up bundles of wires, thereby damaging them. [9] The Bendix Corporation issued denials, stating that the units underwent 61 inspections during manufacturing, in addition to inspections during installation and maintenance work, and insisted that had the insulation on the wires been breached at some point, it would have surely been detected and the unit replaced. [10]
Somewhat unusually, American Airlines continued using the "Flight 1" designator after the accident; AA1 is still used for a daily morning departure from New York-JFK to Los Angeles using the Airbus A321T. [11]
A number of well-known persons were aboard Flight 1 when it went down in Jamaica Bay. [12] They included:
The crash serves as a central plot element in the Mad Men second-season episode "Flight 1" (episode two). [13]
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Air crash
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Lansing resident works to establish Young Black Panther Party chapter
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When James Henson was younger, he idolized the famous civil rights group known as the Black Panther Party. Now, he is working to establish his own chapter of Young Black Panther Party out of Lansing. Henson, a 22-year-old former student at Lansing Community College, was inspired to act after the protests that occurred in the wake of the killing of George Floyd in police custody. Henson created the party, which he describes as a team, in early June 2020. Besides himself, the party consists of four other leaders that Henson said are in different parts of the United States. “The original Panthers was a team at first before they even became an organization,” Henson said. Henson said that he wanted the party to be a team to show others that people can make progress without establishing an official organization. In 1966, Huey Newton and Bobby Seale, founded the Black Panther Party, which was first called the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. The party was originally created to monitor police activities in Black community but later moved onto social projects, such as giving out food and opening free health clinics. Henson plans to replicate this idea of giving through his Young Black Panther Party. He currently teaches self-defense to those that wish to learn, including Filipino martial arts and Muay Thai, and is planning ways to help hungry families in black communities. “Right now, I am donating some seeds to Black families that know how to plant,” Henson said. The seeds, which will produce food for these families, are the beginning of a larger project for Henson and his party. He aims to establish gardens in Black communities in order to feed families and teach them how to grow their own food. “I pretty much want to tell the people that we need to do everything that we can to help out our community without relying on the government,” he said. He also plans to use Herbert Covey’s 2007 book "African-American Slave Medicine" to replicate herbal remedies originally used by slaves in the United States and to explore the practicality of these medicines, which Henson said were used to treat things like scars and muscle pains. If they are safe and useful, Henson wants to distribute some of these remedies to Black families for free. Henson said that The Young Black Panther Party is looking for new members that are 16 years of age and older. He encourages those interested to contact the team on its website.
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Organization Established
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1942-43 musicians' strike
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On August 1, 1942, the American Federation of Musicians, at the instigation of union president James C. Petrillo, began a strike against the major American record companies because of disagreements over royalty payments. Beginning at midnight, July 31, 1942, no union musician could make commercial recordings for any commercial record company. [1] That meant that a union musician was allowed to participate on radio programs and other kinds of musical entertainment, but not in a recording session. The 1942–1944 musicians' strike remains the longest strike in entertainment history. The strike did not affect musicians performing on live radio shows, in concerts, or, after October 27, 1943, on special recordings made by the record companies for V-Discs for distribution to the armed forces fighting World War II, because V-Discs were not available to the general public. However, the union did frequently threaten to withdraw musicians from the radio networks to punish individual network affiliates who were deemed "unfair" for violating the union's policy on recording network shows for repeat broadcasts. The strike had a major impact on the American musical scene. At the time, union bands dominated popular music; after the strike, and partly as a result of it, the Big Bands began to decline and vocalists began to dominate popular music. Petrillo had long publicly maintained that recording companies should pay royalties. As head of the Chicago local chapter of the union in 1937 he had organized a strike there. Petrillo was elected president of the American Federation of Musicians in 1940. [2]
When he announced that the recording ban would start at midnight, July 31, 1942,[3] most people thought it would not happen. America had just entered World War II on December 8, 1941, and most newspapers opposed the ban. By July, it was clear that the ban would take place and record companies began to stockpile new recordings of their most popular artists. In the first two weeks of July, these performers all recorded new material: Tommy Dorsey, Jimmy Dorsey, Charlie Barnet, Bing Crosby, Guy Lombardo, and Glenn Miller, who made his last records as a civilian bandleader. Recording during the last week was a long list of performers, including Count Basie, Woody Herman, Alvino Ray, Johnny Long, Claude Thornhill, Judy Garland, Crosby (again), Glen Gray, Benny Goodman, Kay Kyser, Dinah Shore, Spike Jones, and Duke Ellington, among others. [4]
Several months passed before any effects of the strike were noticed. At first, the record companies hoped to call the union's bluff by releasing new recordings from their unissued stockpiles, but the strike lasted much longer than anticipated and eventually the supply of unissued recordings was exhausted. The companies also reissued long deleted recordings from their back catalogs, including some from as far back as the dawn of the electrical recording era in 1925. One reissue that was especially successful was Columbia’s release of Harry James’ "All or Nothing at All",[5] recorded in August 1939 and released when James' new vocalist, Frank Sinatra, was still largely unknown. The original release carried the usual credit, "Vocal Chorus by Frank Sinatra" in small type. It sold around five thousand copies. When Columbia reissued the record in 1943 with the now famous Sinatra given top billing, and "with Harry James and his Orchestra" in small type below, the record was on the best–selling list for 18 weeks and reached number 2 on June 2, 1943. [6]
In 1942, the song "As Time Goes By" became immensely popular after it was featured in the Warner Bros. film Casablanca. Rudy Vallée recorded the song for RCA Victor in 1931, and the reissue of his 12-year-old record became a number-one hit. As the strike extended into 1943, record companies bypassed the striking musicians by recording their popular vocalists singing with vocal groups filling the backup role normally filled by orchestras. Columbia, which had signed Sinatra on June 1, 1943, was keen to issue records featuring their new star; the company therefore hired Axel Stordahl as arranger and conductor for several sessions with a vocal group called the Bobby Tucker Singers. These first sessions were on June 7, June 22, August 5, and November 10, 1943. Of the nine songs recorded during these sessions, seven charted on the best–selling list. [7] Other recordings made this way included:
The strike had an effect on radio shows that used recorded music due to the limited number of new recordings. Radio programs that relied mainly on records found it difficult to keep introducing new music to their listeners. Martin Block, host of WNEW's Make Believe Ballroom radio show, circumvented the ban by having friends in England send him versions of records produced in the UK, where the ban was not in effect. [10][11] He was forced to discontinue this practice after the station's house orchestra staged a retaliatory strike, which was settled when WNEW agreed not to broadcast records made after August 1, 1942. [12]
The only prominent musical organization not to be affected by the strike was the Boston Symphony Orchestra, as they were not in the union. [13]
Some recording companies did not have an extensive backlog of recordings and they settled with the union after just over a year. Decca Records and its transcription subsidiary World Broadcasting System settled in September 1943,[5] agreeing to make direct payments to a union-controlled "relief fund",[14] followed shortly by the recently established Capitol Records, on October 11, 1943. Capitol had only issued its first records on July 1, 1942, 30 days before the strike began. Other recording and transcription companies continued to pursue the case with the National Labor Relations Board and the National War Labor Board, culminating in a WLB directive demanding that the AFM rescind its ban on musicians recording for those companies. When the AFM refused to comply, the matter was referred to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who wrote to James Petrillo:
In a country which loves democratic government and loves keen competition under the rules of the game, parties to a dispute should adhere to the decision of the Board even though one of the parties may consider the decision wrong. Therefore, in the interest of orderly government and in the interest of respecting the considered decision of the Board, I request your union to accept the directive orders of the National War Labor Board. What you regard as your loss will certainly be your country's gain. The union refused to budge, and with competing companies having made new recordings for more than a year, RCA Victor and Columbia finally capitulated, agreeing to substantially similar terms as the other recording companies, on November 11, 1944. [16] The new contract included language releasing artists from exclusive recording contracts should the AFM strike those companies. [17] Within a few hours after signing the new contract, RCA Victor had Vaughn Monroe and his Orchestra record two songs from the new Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film musical, Meet Me in St. Louis. The record was quickly mastered, pressed and placed on sale just two days later. The end of the strike was not the end of the royalty dispute, however. As television was beginning, there were questions regarding musicians and royalties from this new medium, and a similar strike was called for 1948,[18] lasting close to a year, ending on December 14, 1948. [1][19][20]
Over the long term the record companies were not hurt by the strike. In 1941, 127 million records were sold; in 1946, two years after the strike, that number jumped to 275 million and it jumped higher in 1947 to 400 million. [21]
The strike stopped business between major record labels and musicians under contract with them.
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Strike
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What the History of Pandemics Can Teach Us About Resilience
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Five years ago, I decided to write a novel set in the aftermath of a terrible pandemic. The novel was an alternate history, a revisionist Western set in the 19th century, and I ended up doing copious research on everything from cattle brands to midwifery. But I’m somewhat embarrassed to say now that my research on public health disasters was relatively slight. Essentially, I pulled up a list of flu outbreaks, picked one that best suited my plot ( an 1830 pandemic that may have begun in China), and started writing. But as I finished the book, its events collided with the present. I was working through copy-edits in March 2020 when New York City, where I live, began to shut down. Suddenly I had a lot of time, and a lot of motivation, to consider what I had gotten right and wrong about the devastation wrought by disease on a society. In many ways, my imagination had strayed far from reality. For one thing, no known pandemic has ever been as deadly as the one I wrote about, which kills 90 percent of the United States population. But I had one instinct that turned out to be right: that pandemics have the potential to shock societies into new ways of living. The Black Death, for example, led to the end of serfdom and the rise of the middle class in England. But a disease outbreak can also cause governments to double down on repression and bigotry, as when the United States scapegoated Asian-Americans during 19th-century plague epidemics. An artist’s rendering of St. Pancras Smallpox Hospital, circa 1880s, in a tented camp in London.Credit...Frank Collins/Buyenlarge, via Getty Images History can’t tell American policymakers and activists exactly how to respond to Covid-19 — more often, it offers an example of what not to do. Still, outbreaks in 20th-century South Africa , medieval England, ancient Rome and more can offer some lessons for those working to heal the damage of Covid and forge a more just society in its wake. Five years ago, the history of pandemics was a jumping-off point for me — an inspiration, little more. Now it’s something more urgent: an example of what we can dare to hope for in these dark times, as well as what awaits us if we fail to act. Here are some lessons learned. Adapt The Black Death, a pandemic caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis that spread across Asia, Africa and Europe beginning in 1346, was “without question the most catastrophic health crisis in recorded history,” Mark Bailey, a historian and the author of “After the Black Death: Economy, Society, and the Law in Fourteenth-Century England,” said in an interview. In England, it killed around 50 percent of the population in 1348 and 1349; in Europe as a whole, estimates range from 30 to 60 percent . The sheer scale of mortality was an enormous shock, though its effects went far beyond that. As Monica Green, a historian of medicine who specializes in medieval Europe, put it, “Who will bring in the harvest if half the people are gone?” Different societies responded in different ways. In many parts of northwestern Europe, such as Britain and what is now the Netherlands, the sudden death of a huge share of working people meant it was easier for the survivors to get work and acquire land. “You get an increase in wealth per head and a reduction in wealth inequality,” Mr. Bailey explained. Economically, at least, “ordinary people are better off.” Image “Flight of the Townspeople Into the Country to Escape From the Plague,” from 1630. The plague is depicted at far right as a skeleton holding a dagger and an hourglass.Credit.../Universal Images Group, via Getty Images The reverse was true in much of eastern Europe, where lords consolidated their power over the now-scarce peasantry to reimpose serfdom, forcing them to work the land on terms favorable to landowners. There, inequality flatlined or actually increased in the wake of the plague. There are many competing explanations for the split, but one possibility is that “the Black Death tends to accelerate existing trends,” like a movement toward a less feudal, more consumer-based economy in northern Europe, Mr. Bailey said. But that region didn’t magically become a bastion of equality post-plague — the English government imposed wage caps in the mid-14th century to keep pay from going too high. The result was widespread unrest, culminating in the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 , which brought together people of a wide variety of social backgrounds in an expression of “pent-up frustration” at government mismanagement of the economy, Mr. Bailey said. Over all, if “resilience in a pandemic is coping,” he continued, “economic and social resilience subsequently is adapting.” The modern lesson: “Adapting to the new reality, the new paradigm, the new opportunities, is key.” Fight inequality The move toward greater economic equality in England post-plague may have been a bit of an outlier — throughout history, epidemics have tended to intensify existing social inequities. In 1901, for example, when an epidemic of the plague hit South Africa , “thousands of Black South Africans were forcibly removed from Cape Town under the assumption that their free movement was having an effect on the spread of plague within the city,” said Alexandre White, a professor of sociology and the history of medicine whose work focuses on pandemic response. That expulsion laid the groundwork for the racial segregation of the apartheid era. The United States, too, has a history of discriminatory policy during epidemics, including the targeting of Asian-American communities during early 19th- and early 20th-century plague outbreaks in Hawaii and San Francisco , and the sluggish federal response to the H.I.V. epidemic when it appeared to affect primarily L.G.B.T.Q. Americans, Mr. White said. Such decisions have ended up not only widening inequality but also hampering efforts to fight disease — ignoring H.I.V., for example, allowed it to spread throughout the population. Image A scientist studying the plague at a San Francisco lab in 1961. Credit...Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images And now, the United States faces a pandemic that has disproportionately sickened and killed Americans of color , who are overrepresented in the essential work force yet less likely to have access to medical care. As federal and state governments manage the vaccine rollout, access to testing and treatment, and economic relief packages, it’s crucial to learn from the past and target policies specifically at reducing the racial and economic inequalities that made the pandemic so devastating in the first place. “If the effects of racism and effects of xenophobia were less systemic within our society, we would likely see fewer deaths as a result of Covid-19,” Mr. White said. “Bigotry is fundamentally bad for public health.” Embrace unexpected innovation Even as pandemics have often re-entrenched old prejudices and forms of marginalization, they’ve also often given rise to something new, especially when it comes to art, culture and entertainment. Ancient Rome, for example, was tormented by epidemics, with one occurring every 15 to 20 years for portions of the fourth, third and second centuries B.C., said Caroline Wazer, a writer and editor who completed a dissertation on Roman public health. At the time, the primary public-health response was a religious one, with Romans experimenting with new rites and even new gods in an attempt to stop the spread of illness. In one case, Ms. Wazer said, with an epidemic dragging on for three years and the public increasingly agitated, the Senate adopted a strange, new ritual from northern Italy: “they bring in actors to perform onstage.” According to the Roman historian Livy, “this is how the Romans get theater,” Ms. Wazer said, though that fact has been debated . A spiritual response to disease brought cultural change to 14th-century England, too. Recalling the mass graves of the Black Death, Britons feared dying without a Christian burial and spending eternity in purgatory, Mr. Bailey said. So they began to form guilds, small religious groups that essentially functioned as “burial insurance clubs,” raising money to give members the proper treatment after death. These guilds hosted parties and other events, and over time there was concern “about boozing of ale going on in and around the church,” Mr. Bailey said. So the guilds began to build their own halls for socializing. Then, during the Reformation in the 16th century, the guilds were dissolved, and the halls became something new: pubs. Indeed, historians have argued that the rise in consumerism and the wealth of ordinary people following the Black Death paved the way for the pub culture for which England remains known today. It would be flippant to call such cultural innovations a “silver lining” of pandemics — after all, plenty of new art forms and social venues have emerged without the catalyst of mass death. It is worth remembering, though, that in the wake of even the most devastating public health disasters, human social life and creativity have re-emerged in new and unexpected ways. “Pandemics are both catastrophes and opportunities,” Mr. Bailey told me. And in the coming years, the world will face the tragic opportunity of rebuilding after Covid-19 — and if we learn the lessons of history, we may be able to do so in a way that’s more fair, more inclusive, and even more joyful than the past we’ve been forced to leave behind. Anna North is a senior reporter at Vox and the author of three novels, including, most recently, “Outlawed.”
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Disease Outbreaks
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IIROC and MFDA to Merge
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Ruth Saldanha: Earlier this week the CSA announced its plan to create a new single self-regulatory organisation, which will consolidate the functions of the two existing SROs, which are IIROC and MFDA. Additionally, the CSA will also combine two existing investor protection funds into an integrated fund that's independent of the new SRO. To discuss what this might mean for investors, we are joined today by Ian Tam Morningstar Canada's Director of Investment Research. Ian, thank you so much for being here today.
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Organization Merge
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2006 European Aquatics Championships
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The 2006 European Swimming Championships were held in Budapest, Hungary, from 26 July – 6 August 2006. Disciplines include swimming, diving, synchronised swimming (synchro) and open water swimming. European Water Polo Championships for 2006 were also organized by LEN, but held separately. Competition dates by discipline were:[1]
* Host nation (Hungary)
Competition dates for Swimming were: 31 July – 6 August. [1][2] All swimming events contested in a long-course (50m) pool; with morning sessions (preliminary heats) beginning at 09:30, and evening sessions (semifinals and finals) beginning at 17:00. Event format was:
Event order for evening sessions was:
WR= World Record (and by default also new European, Championships and National records for those involved); ER= European Record (and by default also new Championships and National records); CR= Championships Record
Competition dates for Diving were: 1–6 August 2006. [1]
Competition dates for Synchro were 26–30 July 2006. [1]
Competition dates for Open Water were 26–30 July 2006. [1]
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Sports Competition
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Gwyneth Paltrow Says Divorcing Chris Martin Is What She ‘Wanted Least in the World’
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“I’ve learned so much from something I wanted least in the world. I never wanted to get divorced,” the Goop founder, 48, told the House Bunny star, 44, during an episode of her “Anna Faris Is Unqualified” podcast released Monday, March 22. “I never wanted to not be married to the father of my kids, theoretically.”
Paltrow and the “Yellow” singer, 44, split in 2014 . The former couple met in 2002 while Coldplay was on tour in Los Angeles. After a year of dating, they tied the knot in 2003. A year later, they welcomed their daughter, Apple. Their son, Moses, was born in 2006.
Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin. Colin Young-Wolff/Invision/AP/Shutterstock
Paltrow previously discussed her marriage in a piece she wrote for British Vogue last September.
“I don’t remember which day of the weekend it was or the time of day,” she wrote, recalling a 2010 trip to Italy. ”But I knew — despite long walks and longer lie-ins, big glasses of Barolo and hands held — my marriage was over.”
Read article
Today, Paltrow and the U.K. native are in a better place than they were during their split, though the It’s All Easy author admits coparenting can be tough.
“Chris and I committed to putting [the kids] first and that’s harder than it looks because some days you really don’t want to be with the person that you are getting divorced from,” the Shakespeare in Love actress explained during a September 2020 Drew Barrymore Show appearance.
Still, the “conscious uncoupling” helped her become the person she is today.
“I have learned more about myself through [the divorce] process than I could have imagined,” Paltrow told Faris. “And because I focused on accountability, I was then able to find the most amazing man and build something that I’ve never had before with [ Brad Falchuk ], my husband.”
The Royal Tenenbaums star and the TV producer married in September 2018 . In July of that year, a source told Us Weekly exclusively that the Oscar winner wasn’t stressing out about her second wedding .
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Famous Person - Divorce
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Protests against Benjamin Netanyahu
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Protests against Benjamin Netanyahu, the former Prime Minister of Israel, have gained prominence in Israel during the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing trial of Netanyahu for various corruption scandals. Protesters have accused Netanyahu of subjecting the law, as part of his fight in the criminal proceedings against him. The demonstrators are protesting against Netanyahu's continued tenure in the shadow of his criminal charges, claims of his preference for personal good over the good of the state, and demands to investigate the "submarine affair". One of the hotspots most identified with the protests is the compound near the Prime Minister's Residence, on Balfour Street in Jerusalem. As of June 2021, the demonstrations continue to take place in various places in the country. In the summer of 2016, the "individual protest" began by a small group of citizens. In December 2017, the protesters initiated a demonstration in Tel Aviv and a parade on Rothschild Boulevard, against the "French Law" which were intended to thwart the possibility of filing indictments against Netanyahu. The demonstration was called the "Shame Parade" and was attended by tens of thousands of people. [1]
After the 23rd Knesset elections, President Reuven Rivlin imposed the Government formation on a Blue and White, Benny Gantz. Outgoing Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein refused to vacate his seat as the chairman and prevented the establishment of parliamentary committees, including a committee to discuss the parliamentary immunity of Netanyahu. [citation needed] Following this, the "Black Flags" protest broke out in March 2020. Shikma Bressler and her brothers Eyal and Yarden Schwartzman, initiated protest convoys to the Knesset, as well as demonstrations near the homes of parliamentary members of the Israel Resilience Party. [2] Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak rallied and called on social media to wave black flags from balconies and windows. [3] On 16 March, he wrote, "When there are a million of them on every window and balcony, the defendant will go home. The court will not be closed and the Knesset will not be closed. We, the citizens, cannot go through with it". [4]
The protests are taking place without any centralized leadership. [5] Key activists include Amir Haskel from the "individual protest",[6] Ishay Hadas from the "Crime Minister" group,[citation needed] Uri Nachman who opened the "Siege on Balfour",[citation needed] lawyer Gonen Ben Itzhak who accompanies the protests legally,[6] and the independent journalist Or-ly Barlev who covers the protest and posts it on social media. On 23 July, the Ministry of Public Security Amir Ohana approached Barlev with an invitation to a meeting with protest representatives. [6] She rejected the invitation on the grounds that it was a popular protest with no representatives to speak on behalf of the people. [6]
In December 2019, Uri Nachman, a member of Likud Central Committee, began the "siege of Balfour" near Beit Aghion, the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem[7][unreliable source? ][8] Hundreds demonstrate against Netanyahu near his official residence, again] She believed that this was the address for the protest, and this is the only way to make a change in Israel. But she remained alone, and her protest did not gain momentum. On 6 June, Nachman returned to Balfour for a 24-hour siege and slept there alone. On 10 June, Amir Haskel joined her and posted on social media about the opening of the sit-down strike in Balfour. He wrote, "Have you seen the demonstrations in the White House in Washington? Now we want Washington to see the demonstrations in front of the prime minister's residence." There were 10–50 people in the protest compound. Some slept in Sleeping bags on the sidewalk, and some at neighbors in the area, who open their homes to protesters. Passers-by entered the compound to express support for the protesters. The main event is a Kabbalat Shabbat, which attracts a large crowd, and activities such as lectures, concerts, performances, meditation, and public singing took place. On 26 June, police dispersed the weekly "Kabbalat Shabbat" demonstration and arrested Amir Haskel, an Ex-general who was speaking there. [9] The reason for the arrest was that he blocked the road for about two hours. The demonstrators claimed that this was an excuse since they were standing on the sidewalk. Along with Haskel, seven activists were arrested. They were offered to be released in exchange for an undertaking not to come to Balfour, but they refused. The arrest of Amir Haskel provoked outrage on social media, and for the first time, the institutionalized media reported on the "individual protest". The arrest was perceived as a political arrest. Out of all the protest organizations came a call not to leave Haskel alone. The day after the arrest, hundreds marched to the "Russian Compound" and to the Magistrate's Court, where the detainees were. Then public figures also arrived for the first time, including Moshe Ya'alon,[10] and Knesset members from all opposition parties. On Sunday morning, a judge released them unconditionally. Following the incident, all the protest groups scattered in the country moved to Balfour. According to the protesters, the government's failed management of the COVID-19 crisis increased public unrest. Unlike previous demonstrations, on 14 July many young people came to the demonstrations. They gathered in front of the Prime Minister's Residence and nearby France Square ("Paris Square"). The demonstration was called "Bibistille", because of its historic date, French Bastille Day. [11] The demonstration marked a change of trend, from a quiet protest with almost no mention in the institutionalized media, it became a noisy mass demonstration, with individualistic protest styles, costumes, and performances. It was the largest demonstration since the beginning of the "Balfour Siege", and thousands of people took part, with an estimated 4,000 people. [citation needed]
The police conducted a demonstration with a large number of special police forces, border guards and undercover police officers.
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Protest_Online Condemnation
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Two Democratic Senators urge federal investigations into Facebook for allegedly misleading claims
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Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Maria Cantwell are urging federal regulators to investigate Facebook over allegations it misled advertisers, investors and the public.
Warren, D-Mass., urged the SEC and Justice Department to look into potential wire fraud and securities laws violations.
Cantwell, D-Wash., asked the Federal Trade Commission to probe whether Facebook engaged in unfair or deceptive practices.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., speaks during the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on security in Afghanistan and in the regions of South and Central Asia, in Dirksen Building on Tuesday, October 26, 2021.
Tom Williams | CQ-Roll Call, Inc. | Getty Images
Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Maria Cantwell are urging federal regulators to investigate Facebook over allegations the company misled advertisers, investors and the public about public safety and ad reach on its platform.
On Thursday, Warren urged the heads of the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission to open criminal and civil investigations into Facebook or its executives to determine if they violated U.S. wire fraud and securities laws.
A day earlier, Cantwell, chair of the Senate Commerce Committee, encouraged the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether Facebook, now called Meta, violated the agency's law against unfair or deceptive business practices. Cantwell's letter was made public on Thursday.
The letters came to light a day after Instagram head Adam Mosseri testified before a Commerce subcommittee about protecting children on the platform. That hearing, and the letters that followed, resulted from disclosures of internal research at Facebook that were leaked by whistleblower and former employee Frances Haugen to the Senate, SEC and journalists.
Haugen's lawyers already filed a whistleblower complaint with the SEC, claiming the company violated securities laws by misleading investors about its grasp on the safety issues on its platform, among other allegations.
Warren's letter points directly to Haugen's disclosures and said they add to evidence that Facebook misled advertising customers and investors about their ad reach. The senator from Massachusetts said that could be a violation of securities laws and would amount to "breathtakingly illegal conduct by one of the world's largest social media companies."
Warren claimed, based on the disclosures, that Facebook failed to notify investors or the SEC about errors in the platform's "Potential Reach" product, which was meant to estimate how many people in an area may see an ad. Warren wrote that evidence increasingly suggests executives were aware the metric "was meaningfully and consistently inflated."
In her letter to the FTC, Cantwell focused on Facebook's claims about the safety of its products, in addition to the allegedly inflated ad projections. The Washington senator pointed to Haugen's disclosures to suggest Facebook's claims of the efficiency of its algorithms in removing hateful content "could significantly misrepresent" their effectiveness. She suggested the agency investigate Facebook and, depending what the evidence shows, pursue monetary relief for advertisers and disgorgement of allegedly ill-gotten gains.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate
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Jobless claims are still higher than during the Great Recession a year after the pandemic started
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A year after the pandemic shut down the US economy , America's workers are still hurting . For the past 12 months, first-time claims for jobless benefits have been higher than during the worst moments of the Great Recession. Economists, politicians and workers alike are hoping that the continued vaccine rollout and warmer weather that allows more outdoor social activities will help the economy heal at a faster pace in the coming months. These 5 charts show the pandemic's brutal impact on American workers But, for now, improvements are still a bit harder to come by. Last week, 770,000 Americans filed initial claims for unemployment benefits on a seasonally adjusted basis, the Department of Labor reported Thursday. It was an increase from the prior week and 70,000 claims more than economists had expected. It was also nearly 3 times as many claims as in the same week last year, just before the pandemic layoffs made benefit claims skyrocket. Claims fell to their lowest level of the pandemic last November, at 711,000. On top of that, 282,394 filed for benefits under the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program open to the self-employed and gig workers last week. Added together, more than 1 million people filed for first-time benefits last week, without seasonal adjustments. Continued claims, which count people who have filed for benefits for at least two weeks in a row, stood at 4.1 million adjusted for seasonal swings. In total, more than 18 million American workers received benefits under the government's various programs in the week ended February 27. Where have the jobs gone? Last spring, America shed more than 22 million jobs . Many of these people have been able to go back to work as the economy gradually reopened, but the nation still remains down 9.5 million jobs compared to February last year. Long-term unemployment is way up and economists worry that people who have lost their jobs and can't find a way back will be permanently detached from the labor market . Kirsten Combs from Virginia is one of the workers who has been jobless throughout the pandemic. After being furloughed from her job as a general manager at optical retailer Visionworks last March, she was laid off in July. "This is an industry that was already struggling prior to the pandemic, and now stores are reducing staff size and payroll budgets to try to make up some of what they lost," she told CNN Business. That's why "jobs are scarce or salaries are much lower than they were before the pandemic, and I was already living paycheck to paycheck," she said. "I guess I would just say I never imagined I'd be in a position like this and find myself unemployed for a year," Combs added. "I'm so grateful for the stimulus and unemployment that has been provided to date, but it's not enough." Help is on the way. The hurt remains The latest stimulus package includes another round of stimulus checks for qualifying individuals, as well as an extension to pandemic unemployment benefits. Kim Mitcham from North Carolina was working in kids education for the Iredell County Partnership for Young Children until the pandemic hit, moving schooling online and ending a job she had for a decade. "I loved my job," she told CNN Business. And even though she's sent out dozens of copies of her resume, she's still unemployed now. "I am depressed and anxious. And, I feel lost and lonely," Mitcham said. The jobs crisis remains severe in some industries and demographic groups. Last month's jobs report showed that while the White unemployment rate continued to improve, the jobless rate for Black Americans actually rose. Sectors that rely on people coming together, such as hospitality and travel, are still hurting and so are the people who used to be employed in them.
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Financial Crisis
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Steps to prevent carbon monoxide poisoning
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FRANKFORT, Ky. (KFVS) - With recent winter temperatures below freezing, the Kentucky Department for Public Health (KDPH), an agency within the Cabinet for Health and Family Services (CHFS), wants to remind residents to take action to prevent carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning.
“As we move into the winter months, cold weather and weather-related power outages are more likely to result in Kentuckians using generators and gas grills to provide heat. CO created by these heat sources is odorless and deadly so it is important to follow proper safety precautions and use CO detectors to keep our families safe. Working together, we can keep ourselves and our loved ones informed and safe while keeping warm this winter,” said Dr. Steven Stack, KDPH commissioner.
Since 2011, Kentucky law has required CO detectors in newly constructed one and two-family dwellings, townhomes less than three stories, apartment buildings, dormitories, adult/child care facilities and assisted living facilities that contain a fuel-burning-appliance or an attached garage.
In Kentucky, CO poisoning sends an average of 217 people per year to the emergency room, according to data from the Kentucky’s Environmental Public Health Tracking Program. Data from the National Environmental Public Health Tracking Program tells us that from 2014-2018 an average of 16 Kentuckians die every year from unintentional CO poisoning. These deaths and trips to the emergency room for CO poisoning are preventable when people are prepared.
Officials at DPH strongly encourage residents to follow these guidelines below to prevent injury, illness or death:
Carbon Monoxide Safety
At high levels, CO can cause death within minutes. Symptoms of overexposure to CO include headache, fatigue, dizziness, shortness of breath, nausea and confusion.
More information about CO poisoning can be found on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.
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Mass Poisoning
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The Shortest Marriages in Celebrity History, From Jennifer Lopez to Kim Kardashian
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Typically, when a couple gets married, they're told to keep an eye out for the so-called "seven-year itch," when they've fully settled into their marriage and might start feeling a little restless. For some, however, the honeymoon stage comes to an abrupt halt well before they've hit the seven-year mark—like, closer to the 72-day mark. While these whirlwind marriages and rapid-fire divorces undoubtedly occur in regular, everyday couples, they seem to afflict Hollywood lovebirds at a disproportionate rate. In fact, there might be even more celebrity couples who have gotten divorced within a year of tying the knot—see: Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries, Britney Spears and Jason Alexander, and, most recently, Nicolas Cage and Erika Koike—than those who have survived the seven-year itch. Revisit all the blink-and-you'll-miss-'em love stories of Hollywood couples who were married for less than 365 days, from Britney's 55-hour nuptials to Jennifer Lopez's matching pair of months-long marriages. Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images In the early hours of January 3, 2004, the childhood friends said "I do" in Las Vegas's infamous A Little White Wedding Chapel, both clad in blue jeans, and Brit in a trucker hat. A mere 55 hours later, once the pop princess's team had found out about the impulsive marriage, they had the wedding annulled, claiming Spears "lacked understanding of her actions to the extent that she was incapable of agreeing to the marriage." Spears herself referred to the incident as "me being silly, being rebellious," then went on to marry Kevin Federline the following October (before filing for divorce a little over two years later). Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic/Getty Images Before most of the world even knew Cage was even dating the makeup artist, they had gotten married and almost immediately split up. Four days after tying the knot with Koike in a secret ceremony in Las Vegas (are you sensing a theme?) in March 2019, and mere hours after being spotted having a very public argument with her, Cage filed for an annulment. Steve Granitz/WireImage/Getty Images On New Year's Day 2008, Edmonds and Murphy wed in a romantic sunset ceremony on a private island in French Polynesia. Exactly two weeks later, they announced their split. However, since they'd held off on getting their marriage license in the U.S.—hosting only what they called a "symbolic ceremony"—instead of formally filing for a divorce, Edmonds and Murphy simply had to call off their plans for the stateside legal ceremony. Ron Galella/WireImage/Getty Images After dating for six years, Lopez and Landry wed in a romantic ceremony in Mexico in April 2004, only to file for divorce just over two weeks later. Years later, Lopez finally confirmed the rumors that the breakup came about because he'd cheated on Landry during his bachelor party. "I got inebriated and a little too friendly with a young lady," he wrote in his 2014 memoir. "When it was time to return home, lightning hit me with the truth: I wasn't in love. But I walked down the aisle [anyway]. Ali was hurt and angry, rightfully so." Barry King/Liaison/Getty Images In March 1994, when Barrymore was only 19, she said "I do" to the then-31-year-old bar owner during a night of partying, after just six weeks of dating. "Everything about us is like fate," Barrymore told People of her impromptu nuptials. Fatefully enough, a little over a month later, they officially split up. Kevin Winter/NBCUniversal/Getty Images It was the almost-immediate divorce announcement heard 'round the world. Exactly 72 days after broadcasting their lavish August 2011 wedding to the millions of viewers of Kim's Fairytale Wedding: A Kardashian Event, Kim K filed for divorce from her NBA star beau, citing irreconcilable differences. "The one thing that really bothers me is whenever people say that my marriage was fake," Humphries later wrote in a March 2019 essay. "There's definitely a lot about that world that is not entirely real. But our actual relationship was 100 percent real." Ron Galella, Ltd./WireImage/Getty Images Another of Cage's four marriages makes the cut: He and Elvis's only child tied the knot in August 2002, then promptly filed for divorce the following November. Their divorce wasn't officially finalized until May 2004, meaning their divorce proceedings lasted several times longer than their actual marriage. Jim Smeal/WireImage/Getty Images In July 2001, Farrell and Warner married in a (non-legally binding) ceremony in Tahiti. In what turned out to be a stroke of luck, they never legally sealed the deal, making their split four months later all the more simple. "Too fast, too young," Farrell later said of his short-lived marriage to Warner, who has now been married to Jamie Dornan for almost six years. Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty Images Despite the on-again, off-again status of their mid-aughts relationship, the Baywatch star and country singer went ahead and got married on a yacht in July 2006. Their marriage lasted for about four months, before Anderson filed for divorce in November of that year. In 2018, she revealed that she hadn't spoken to Kid Rock since their breakup. Mark Sullivan/WireImage/Getty Images Before Cooper's star had really been born, he married the NCIS star in a low-key ceremony in the South of France in December 2006. On May 1, 2007, Esposito filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences; in a statement of his own, Cooper's rep noted the the two actors had been separated for "quite a while." In 2011, Cooper opened up about the rapid-fire breakup, saying, "It was just something that happened...The good thing is, we both realized it." Chris Farina/Corbis/Getty Images Four months after their heavily publicized May 2005 beachside wedding, the country singer and his actress wife filed for an annulment, citing "fraud"—causing Zellweger to release a subsequent statement clarifying that the legalese was "not a reflection of Kenny's character." Frederick Brown/AFP/Getty Images In November 1998, the actress and NBA star went on a late-night bender and ended up exchanging vows at—where else?—one of Las Vegas's fast-moving wedding chapels. Though they came close to filing for an annulment within just nine days, Electra and Rodman reconciled and made it through the New Year...before officially filing for divorce in March 1999. "It happened so fast," Electra later said of the whirlwind wedding, which she called "the worst." "It was so spontaneous, and I remember [thinking] right after, 'Oh god, what did we do?'" Ron Galella/WireImage/Getty Images Not long after her first quickie wedding, Barrymore took the plunge yet again. This time around, in July 2001, she and the comedian eloped after a year-long engagement. But in December 2001, they called it quits. "Drew is a wonderful woman. I love her very much. I wish our marriage could have worked out. I wish her much happiness," Green said in a statement at the time. Steve Granitz/WireImage/Getty Images Fans of One Tree Hill were over the moon when costars Bush and Murray began dating, and even more elated when they tied the knot in April 2005, exchanging handwritten vows in front of 200 guests in Santa Monica. Their excitement was short lived, however, since the pair separated that September. Bush didn't speak about her marriage until years later, saying in 2014, "We were two stupid kids who had no business being in a relationship in the first place." Mark Sagliocco/FilmMagic/Getty Images In October 2017, the actor and Four Seasons artistic director were married in a Palm Springs ceremony officiated by Kris Jenner (what can't she do?) and was attended by stars like Sofia Vergara and Chelsea Clinton. Half a year later, in May 2018, they each filed for divorce, citing irreconcilable differences. Though they appeared to have reconciled in subsequent months, by December, they were moving forward once again with the legal split. Raymond Hall/GC Images/Getty Images Though she ignored the warnings of her fellow Real Housewives of New York about D'agostino's cheating habit before her wedding, after seven months as husband and wife, Countess Luann called it quits. She announced in August 2017 that they were splitting up, and later told Andy Cohen that the final straw came when "Tom went out and he called up an old girlfriend and they met up with a group of people. And I didn't know about it—I found out about it the next day in the press," she said. "I was like, 'I can't do this anymore." Jeff Vespa/WireImage/Getty Images After one rapid-fire divorce and one highly publicized relationship with Diddy (then going by Puffy), Lopez was ready to settle down once again, and did so by tying the knot with Judd, her former backup dancer, in September 2001. But rushing into domestic bliss—after only a month-long engagement—didn't seem to bode well for the pair, who amicably separated in the summer of 2002. Ron Davis/Getty Images Quickly after Carrey and his first wife, Melissa Womer, filed for divorce in 1993, the comedian went public with his relationship with his Dumb & Dumber costar Holly. In September 1996, they tied the knot in a low-key, mountain-top ceremony, then whisked a few friends away for a group honeymoon. Less than a year later, however, in July 1997, they filed for divorce, as Holly began not-so-secretly dating another of her costars, Edward Burns; Carrey soon moved on with Renee Zellweger. Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic/Getty Images In what seemed like a match made in prestige TV heaven, Moss and Armisen married in October 2009, only to break up in September 2010, just a few weeks shy of their first anniversary. Several years later, Moss said of the marriage, "Looking back, I feel like I was really young, and at the time I didn't think that I was that young." She added: "It was extremely traumatic and awful and horrible." Steve Granitz/WireImage/Getty Images Before A-Rod, before Marc Anthony, and before Cris Judd, there was Ojani Noa, a waiter-turned-restaurateur who proposed to J.Lo with a $100,000 diamond ring. They married in February 1997, but quietly split up in January 1998, just before reaching their one-year anniversary. For more than a decade afterwards, Lopez and Noa repeatedly returned to court and to the tabloids, as Noa threatened to release intimate videos from their honeymoon and lashed out at his (thriving) ex-wife. Kevin Winter/Getty Images Though fans of The Hills breathed a sigh of relief when Patridge and her on-again, off-again boyfriend Justin Bobby Brescia called it quits, her next relationship wasn't any less tumultuous. Patridge married Bohan, an Australian BMX biker, in November 2016, not long after they welcomed daughter Kirra Max together. In September 2017, however, the reality star not only filed for divorce, but also for a temporary restraining order against Bohan, citing an alleged domestic violence incident. Patridge has since been granted full custody of their daughter, and the divorce was officially finalized in late 2018.
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Famous Person - Marriage
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Number of people experiencing acute food insecurity persistently above 100 million over the last four years
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The number of people experiencing acute food insecurity has remained persistently above 100 million over the last four years. In 2019, the figure rose sharply to 135 million across 58 countries, driven by more conflict, climate extremes and economic turbulence. This number has since significantly increased including due to the compounding effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. While the next Global Report on Food Crises will be launched in April 2021 by the Global Network Against Food Crises, a dramatic increase in the numbers of people in acute food insecurity is evident through new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) analyses or similar analytical processes in countries where the IPC/Cadre Harmonisé (CH) analyses have not been undertaken, with 174 million people in IPC Phase 3 or worse in the 58 countries covered. Of absolute urgent and imminent concern today are more than 34 million people in IPC Phase 4 across the world who already face emergency levels of acute food insecurity and are highly vulnerable to face famine or famine-like conditions without urgent immediate life-saving action.The situation requires urgent action at scale. By the time famine is declared many lives will already be lost; the wider impact on child development, poverty and people’s lives will endure for years to come; and the stripping of productive livelihood assets will increase dependence on external assistance.
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Famine
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'Significant' diesel spills in industrial precinct on Hobart's River Derwent: EPA report
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There have been four significant diesel spills in Hobart's Prince of Wales Bay in the Derwent estuary in the past financial year, the Environment Protection Authority (EPA) says.
The spills were noted in the EPA's 2015-2016 annual report released on Wednesday.
The authority said it did not know how they eventuated and admitted they were difficult to investigate.
The significant spills in Prince of Wales Bay, an industrial precinct, made up almost half of those reported across the state for the year.
But EPA director Wes Ford said the diesel may have come from further afield.
"There could have been a diesel spill from a petrol station or a business residence, or a private residence anywhere within the stormwater catchment that flows into Prince of Wales Bay," he said.
"Trying to locate the source and therefore the offender is very difficult if there's no clear line of evidence or somebody doesn't come forward and give us information."
The EPA said the spills caused some impact on animal life in the bay, including seagulls.
"Birds covered in diesel will often end up drowning as a result of becoming water-logged," Mr Ford said.
"Fish and other creatures close to the surface can ingest diesel into their gills.
"[From] the point of view of residents, it is frustrating if these sorts of spills are in our waterways, because it does impact on the amenity."
One of the spills was reported September 2015, when a resident noticed an orange discharge at the southern end of the bay.
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Environment Pollution
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1928 New Bedford textile strike
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The 1928 New Bedford textile strike was a mass work stoppage of approximately 30,000 machinery operatives in several of the large cotton mills located in New Bedford, Massachusetts, USA. The strike, which ran for several months during the spring and summer of 1928, is remembered for the prominent role played by the Workers (Communist) Party of America in mobilizing the immigrant workers of the region. The strike began April 16, 1928, over a proposed 10 percent wage cut for factory operatives. Strikers demanded not only the abolition of the planned cut in wages but a 20 percent wage increase and implementation of the 40-hour work week. After considerable controversy control of the strike passed from the Communist-led Textile Mill Committee (TMC) to sundry craft unions affiliated with the American Federation of Labor. The strike ended in early October when negotiators for the seven non-Communist craft unions representing the strikers accepted the offer of mill owners for a 5 percent wage cut and promises of 30 days' notice before implementation of any further wage reductions. After ratifying the contract over the weekend, strikers defied a last ditch TMC effort to derail the agreement and returned to work on Monday, October 8. As a radical-led labor stoppage in the American textile industry, the New Bedford strike was the successor to the 1926 Passaic strike and the precursor to the 1929 Gastonia strike, both of which tumultuous events are better remembered to history. During the 19th Century the coastal city of New Bedford, Massachusetts, emerged as the largest whaling port in the world. [1] Some 10,000 seamen shipped from New Bedford to kill and process whales into oil for lighting and machine lubricants and bone for use in corsets. [1] The life was difficult and hard for whaling ship crews but lucrative for shipbuilders, shipowners, and merchants, and the local economy prospered. [1]
The situation began to change in the years after the American Civil War, however, with the profitability of whaling falling dramatically with the discovery and widespread manufacture of kerosene for fuel and petroleum-based machine oil for use as a lubricant. [2] An increased emphasis began being placed on obtaining baleen for corsets, which mandated trips to Arctic waters where baleen whales proliferated. [2] This would end catastrophically in the winter of 1871, when an early return of ice on the ocean trapped and annihilated the entire Arctic fleet, including 32 ships based in New Bedford. [2] A second, smaller catastrophe followed in 1876, resulting in the loss of 12 more ships. [2] By the end of the 1870s prosperous shipbuilders and merchants were looking to leave the dying and unprofitable whaling industry in favor of new forms of capital investment. [2]
Other cities throughout the Northeastern region during the second half of the 19th Century based their local economies upon textile manufacturing, with some 600 mills being scattered across the region by the start of the 1860s. [3] Other lower cost mills dotted the American South, staffed by a labor force willing to accept lesser wages in the wake of a collapsed post-war economy. [3] These mills specialized in low cost, easily produced cotton goods of middling quality, leaving an opening in the marketplace for finely produced cotton textiles. [4] It was to the manufacture of these finer milled goods that New Bedford investors turned when the local economy pivoted from the manufacture of whale oil to fabrics. [5]
While the Wamsutta Mills, established in 1846, predated the turn of the local economy from whaling to textile making, between 1880 and the coming of World War I the pioneer firm had been joined by another 32 companies, valued at a massive $100 million and employing 30,000 people. [6] The industry prospered and New Bedford boomed in the four decades after 1880, growing in population from 40,000 to more than 120,000. [7]
Many of these new arrivals were immigrants — English, Irish, and Germans with prior experience in the milling industry, followed later by French-Canadians, Poles, Syrians, and Portuguese (including the descendants of former slaves from the Portuguese colonies of the Azores and Cabo Verde). [8] Very few American blacks worked in the mills of New Bedford, with one 1900 survey counting just 25 out of a population of just over 11,000 factory workers. [8] These workers lived in densely populated neighborhoods at the north and south of the city, with the owning and financial class living in the prosperous city center. [9]
During the middle years of the 1920s, competitive pressure in the era of post-World War I deflation kept wages of factory operatives unusually low, with the Massachusetts Department of Labor reporting average weekly wages for New Bedford textile workers of $19.95. [10] Things deteriorated further during the first three months of 1928, with that same governmental body making note of a further weekly wage fall to just $19.00. [10]
Local employers, feeling the pressure of modern factories in the low-wage South sought further wage reductions in an effort to remain competitive. [11] In April 1928 united action was enacted by the New Bedford Cotton Manufacturers' Association in unilaterally slashing wages a further 10 percent across the board. [11] This cut was met by the collective action of the New Bedford Textile Council,[11] which approved a work stoppage slated to begin on Monday, April 16, 1928 by a vote of 2,571 to 188. [12] The job stoppage in protest of the proposed 10 percent cut in wages to affect almost all of the 30,000 workers employed in the cotton, rayon, and woolen mills of New Bedford. [12]
Seven craft unions directly represented about 8,000 of New Bedford's textile workers. [11] These included locals of the American Federation of Textile Operatives, an independent organization. [11] The deteriorating wage situation spurred militance in many of these locals, however, and in April and May 1928 a move was made to join the United Textile Workers (UTW), a larger and more potent labor organization affiliated with the American Federation of Labor (AFL). [11]
Most of the minority of New Bedford workers who were unionized ahead of the 1928 strike were from the highly skilled trades — loom fixers, weavers, warp twisters, and the like — who were generally native-born and English-speaking. [11] Those unorganized were more often than not unskilled or low skilled immigrants, forced to perform the dirtiest and most monotonous jobs and barred by union protection by the rigid craft structure of the New Bedford union movement. [11]
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Strike
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Aeroflot Flight 213 (1962) crash
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Aeroflot Flight 213 was a regularly scheduled passenger flight operated by Aeroflot from Chersky Airport to Keperveyem Airport. On 18 September 1962, the Ilyushin Il-14 operating this flight crashed shortly after takeoff. All 27 passengers and five crew members were killed. The Air Accident Investigation Commission determined that pilot error was the main cause of the accident. Weather conditions at the time of the flight were poor. Visibility was 4-10km in light snow with a cloud base of 600-700 meters. Flight 213 departed Chersky Airport at 06:20. The normal procedure involved circling above the valley while climbing to an altitude above surrounding terrain. This procedure was not followed and the crew flew on a heading directly to Keperveyem Airport. At an altitude of 800 meters and climbing, flying in clouds the aircraft impacted a 975 meter tall mountain. The Ilyushin was destroyed and there was a post collision fire. There were no survivors. [1][2][3][4]
Construction of the Il-14M involved, serial number 146000929 09-29, was completed at the Moscow Banner of Labor production factory in 1956
and it was transferred to the civil air fleet. It was powered by two Shvetsov ASh-82 radial engines and at the time of the accident, the aircraft had sustained a total of 9,858 flight hours. [1][2][4]
The investigating committee discovered the primary cause of the accident was the pilots decision to deviate from approved procedures. Contributing factors were a lack of appropriate air traffic control and the weather. [1][2][4]
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Air crash
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Justice News
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PORTLAND, Ore.—A federal criminal complaint was unsealed today charging an Oregon dentist with fraudulently converting to his personal use nearly $8 million in loans intended to help small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Salwan Adjaj, 43, a former dentist residing in West Linn, Oregon, has been charged with aggravated identity theft and wire fraud.
According to court documents, in and around March 2021, Adjaj allegedly submitted dozens of fraudulent loan applications to the Small Business Administration (SBA) in an attempt to obtain funds through the Economic Impact Disaster Loan (EIDL) program. The EIDL program was one of several economic relief programs originally authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES). It enabled SBA to issue low-interest loans to small businesses adversely impacted by the pandemic and associated mitigation measures.
Adjaj used the names and employer identification numbers (EIN) of fictitious business entities on the fraudulent EIDL applications. He further provided false information about the business start dates, number of employees, and locations, and the identities of the purported applicants and business owners. Most of the fraudulent applications were submitted in other peoples’ names, but with Adjaj’s personal residence as the business mailing address. All of the applications were submitted online from an internet protocol (IP) address associated with Adjaj’s dental practice.
After SBA rejected most of Adjaj’s EIDL applications, he shifted his sights to the Restaurant Revitalization Fund (RRF), a pandemic economic relief program aimed at supporting restaurants, bars, and other food- and drink-related businesses. The RRF program was authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) in March 2021. Adjaj had substantially greater success stealing RRF funds than he did EIDL. In May 2021, Adjaj submitted three RRF applications for restaurants allegedly located Sarasota, Miami, and Daytona Beach, Florida. Like his fraudulent EIDL applications, Adjaj’s RRF applications contained false business information and all listed his personal residence as the business mailing address. Together, Adjaj’s RRF applications generated nearly $8 million in fraudulent loan payouts.
Adjaj was arrested yesterday following alleged pretrial release violations. Today, he was ordered detained pending further court proceedings.
Acting U.S. Attorney Scott Erik Asphaug of the District of Oregon made the announcement.
This case was investigated by the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA), the SBA Office of Inspector General, the U.S. Secret Service, and the FBI. Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan W. Bounds is prosecuting the case.
The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act is a federal law enacted on March 29, 2020, designed to provide emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who are suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Anyone with information about allegations of attempted fraud involving COVID-19 can report it by calling the Justice Department’s National Center for Disaster Fraud (NCDF) Hotline at 866-720-5721 or via the NCDF Web Complaint Form at: https://www.justice.gov/disaster-fraud/ncdf-disaster-complaint-form .
A criminal complaint is only an accusation of a crime, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate
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Cairns salesman fined for misleading vulnerable consumers continues to work as pawn broker
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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
A former used car salesman who was fined $1.2 million for repeatedly signing up poor, Indigenous people in far north Queensland to exorbitant loans is continuing to work as a pawn broker in Cairns.
Colin Hulbert was slapped with a lifetime ban from engaging in credit activity by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission this week, but can continue to pawn lend legally, because it falls outside the scope of national credit legislation.
Mr Hulbert's companies Channic Pty Ltd and Cash Brokers operated from his used car dealership Super Cheap Car Sales, and charged brokerage fees of up $990 to facilitate loans with an interest rate of 48 per cent for consumers to buy vehicles that were often in poor condition.
He and his companies were fined $1.2 million including costs by the Federal Court last year for breaching responsible lending obligations and engaging in unconscionable conduct.
The ABC understands Colin Hulbert has gone on to work as a pawn broker at his wife's business, Cash Lenders, in Cairns. He transferred ownership of the business to his wife in July last year, and ceased being a director in January this year. Neon signs on the shopfront advertise cash advances, personal loans and pawn loans, but only "pawn loans" is lit up.
Jon O'Mally from the Indigenous Consumer Assistance Network (ICAN) said he first became aware of Mr Hulbert in 2009 when they had an influx of people seeking help, predominantly from the Aboriginal community of Yarrabah, south of Cairns.
"Our clients were really under severe hardship and stress from the harassment from Colin in trying to collect payments and also the threat of repossessing vehicles," he said.
He said more than 100 people complained to ICAN about Mr Hulbert, including from Cairns, Innisfail and Cape York.
"Colin's behaviour was repetitive. He didn't learn from his mistakes," Mr O'Malley said.
"If we saw 100 people through our doors I couldn't imagine how many more [were impacted]."
ICAN reported the case to the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), which took legal action against Mr Hulbert and his companies in the Federal Court.
One of the witnesses was Rhonda Brim, an unemployed mother-of-eight from Cairns, who bought a van from Mr Hulbert so she could get her sick, newborn son to and from hospital for ongoing medical treatment.
She saw one of his flyers at a shopping centre, and signed up to the 48 per cent interest loan for a $7,000 van which turned out to be a "lemon".
"At that time I thought that was reasonable for someone who couldn't get finance from a bigger dealership because I wasn't working so I went to whoever I could to get a vehicle for my son," she said.
But Ms Brim said it was an emotional experience, because the van kept breaking down and she could not afford the fortnightly $200 loan repayments.
Our daughter started playing sports and we couldn't afford to put her into AFL at the start because we were paying for the car and then paying for taxis and buses to get to the hospital. It was really hard," she said.
Ms Brim said one day her father needed a lift to Kuranda because his brother had just died, but the van would not start, prompting her to seek help from ICAN and she eventually testified against Mr Hulbert.
ASIC found Mr Hulbert knowingly contravened credit legislation at least 73 times between 2008 and 2012, and permanently banned him from engaging in credit activity after concluding he was likely to re-offend.
He avoided paying the $1.2 million fine and $47,699 in compensation to affected consumers after filing for bankruptcy earlier this year.
"ASIC has won the case, but we have people who were witnesses who put in a lot of effort to ensure Colin was accountable for his mistakes but were not duly compensated," Mr O'Mally said.
"I think that's the sad thing of it all, people are still feeling the impacts of Colin's behaviour even after a successful litigation."
Ms Brim said it was frustrating, and did not think Mr Hulbert should be allowed to continue operating as a pawn lender. "I thought that was the point of taking him to court in the first place, besides getting him shut down," she said.
"It feels like everything was for nothing.
"I have to drive past that place every day when I drop my kids off at school. It's really, really frustrating to see that those doors are open everyday."
ASIC said it would continue to monitor Mr Hulbert's activities.
"If he breaches the banning order then ASIC will take appropriate action," a spokesman said. Rhonda Brim said she now carefully reads contracts and was alert to "warning signs" from those advertising easy loans, but said disadvantaged people would still struggle to find fair deals.
"Either they can't get loans or they're too afraid to try because they're afraid of being rejected," she said.
"The small pawn brokers and the small car dealerships like Colin's business was easier, and they … say if you're a low-income earner we'll take you, doesn't matter if you have a bad credit rating."
Mr O'Malley called for the scope of the banking Royal Commission to be broadened to look at "fringe lenders" who could have a detrimental impact on the community.
"This is common. Colin is not a lone ranger in the credit sector, particularly in small amount credit loans and finance," he said.
"We've seen people have heart attacks, suffer more mental illness and unfortunately we've had a couple of people commit suicide.
"It's a sad thing and unfortunately we're looking at a $20 billion industry that is probably targeted mostly at vulnerable or low-income people."
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Organization Fine
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1893 Brisbane flood
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The 1893 Brisbane flood, occasionally referred to as the Great Flood of 1893 or the Black February flood, occurred in 1893 in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. The Brisbane River burst its banks on three occasions in February 1893. It was the occurrence of three major floods in the same month that saw the period named "Black February". There was also a fourth flood event later in the same year in June. The river runs through the centre of Brisbane with much of the population living in areas beside the river. It was flooded in the first flood on 6 February due to a deluge associated with a tropical cyclone, called "Buninyong". [1][2]
The second cyclone struck on 11 February, causing relatively minor flooding compared to the first flood. When the third cyclone came on 19 February, it was almost as devastating as the first, and it left up to one third of Brisbane's residents homeless. This time however the flood in the Brisbane River was largely from waters from the upper reaches of Brisbane River, rather than the Stanley River. [3] The 1893 floods caused 35 deaths. For the first flood, Crohamhurst recorded an all-time Australian record of 907 millimetres (35.7 in) of rain in a 24-hour period. [4][5] The water surge was recorded on the Port Office gauge (now the City gauge) as being 8.35 metres (27 feet, 5 inches) above the low tide level. The February 1893 floods were the second and third highest water levels ever recorded at the City gauge, the highest being the January 1841 flood at 8.43 metres (27 feet, 8 inches). [6]
The 1893 events was preceded by two notable yet less severe floods in 1887 and 1890. Both were caused by high levels of summer rainfall; however the rainfall around this period (with the exception of the two summers) was described as "very low". [7]
Brisbane sits on the land of the Indigenous Turrbal people. Ipswich, Queensland, and Lockyer Valley Region sit on the land of the Jagera people. [8]
Brisbane was established in 1825 as a convict settlement as part of the British colony of New South Wales, and by 1842 opened to free settlement. Queensland became a self-governing colony in 1859. [9]
Samuel Griffith was the Premier of Queensland during the Black February period, although in March 1893 (shortly after the events) he resigned in order to join the Supreme Court of Queensland. Thomas McIlwraith then became Premier of Queensland. In 1901 the Commonwealth of Australia was formed, at which time Queensland became a State. Brisbane in 1891 had a population of 84,000 people. [10] The area was under the jurisdiction of several local governments (the present City of Brisbane being formed by their amalgamation in 1925). John McMaster was Mayor of Brisbane Municipal Council, which contained the City Centre, and was the most important of the local government authorities. The total damage caused by the flooding has been estimated at A$4 million (1893 figures), although no official figures exist. [11][12] The southern regions of the city were most affected by the flood. The most flooded suburb of what was to become the City of Brisbane was Rocklea. [13] However it only housed a small village and farms at that time. Both of the bridges that crossed the river, the Victoria Bridge and the Albert Bridge at Indooroopilly were destroyed. [5] The Victoria Bridge, which was an iron bridge with a turning span to allow traffic to go upriver, was partially destroyed on Monday 6 February, when the northern half of the bridge was washed away. It was not replaced until 1897. In the meantime, ferries were used to transport people and goods across the busy river. This, however, led to the capsize of the ferry ‘’Pearl’’ disaster in 1896 with the loss of more than 40 lives. The great advances in technology associated with photography meant that there were many photos taken of the event, some of which still exist today. A local businessman who would later become Premier, Robert Philp had a photo album (a very expensive item at the time) of the floods, which survives today. [14]
The flooding was responsible for around 35 deaths. [3] The floods also forced the hospitalisation of 190 residents. [11][15]
Seven of the victims were workers at John Wright's Eclipse colliery in north Ipswich which was flooded on Saturday 4 February by the Bremer River, a tributary of the Brisbane River. The seven miners killed included Thomas Wright (Mine Manager) and George Wright who were both sons of the owner. The other five miners were Andrew Smart, Patrick McQuade, John McQuade (son of Patrick), Charles Walker, and Mathew Cuthbertson. The lease over the mine was nearly expired so the mine was not in operation, but the men were removing rails and other mine equipment for use elsewhere. The colliery had two tunnels, and the flood waters had already reached the works. Thomas Wright, despite his father's advice against going down into the mine, arranged for seven men to go into the main tunnel and three men to go into the minor tunnel. Without warning, the roof collapsed over part of the main tunnel with air forced out of the mine in a great rush hurling wagons out of the way and trapping all seven men who entered the main tunnel. The men signaled the engine driver on the surface to pull them out but the collapse was major enough to prevent rescue. In minutes water had flooded the works and those not killed in the collapse would have drowned. [citation needed]
The Indigenous people used to build their camps on higher ground along the rivers, aware of the dangers of floods. They had warned the free settlers of the potential threat of floods, but their advice was ignored and settlements were built closer to the banks of the rivers. [8]
Henry Plantagenet Somerset (1852–1936), was a landowner in the area where the Stanley River and the Upper Brisbane River meet.
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Floods
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2001 Geiyo earthquake
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The 2001 Geiyo earthquake (2001年芸予地震 Nisen-ichi-nen Gēyo Jishin) occurred with a moment magnitude of 6.7 on March 24 at 15:27 local time near Hiroshima, Japan. One person in Hiroshima and one person in Ehime were reported dead. About 3,700 buildings were damaged in the Hiroshima area. [1] Liquefaction was observed in Hiroshima[2] and Ehime. [3] Power outage occurred in the prefectures of Hiroshima, Ehime, Okayama, Yamaguchi, and Kōchi. The maximum intensity was shindo lower 6 in Hiroshima. [4] This earthquake could be felt along the eastern and southern coasts of South Korea. [5]
The released seismic moment of the earthquake was 1.3×1019 Nm. This earthquake is a normal faulting intraslab event within the subducting Philippine Sea Plate. [6] The slip of the earthquake was estimated to be about 1.5–2.4 meters (4 ft 11 in–7 ft 10 in). The locations of aftershocks were distributed roughly in N-S direction. [7] It has been suggested that this earthquake was related to the dehydration of the Philippine Sea Plate slab. [8]
In this region, a strong earthquake occurred in 1905, which was also an intraslab event within the subducting plate. [9]
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Earthquakes
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Four members of family die in LPG cylinder blast
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A 45-year-old woman and her three grown children — two sons and a daughter — died of suffocation when an LPG (liquid petroleum gas) cylinder exploded inside their house in East Delhi’s Farsh Bazar on Wednesday morning.
Atul Garg, director of the Delhi Fire Services, said nine fire tenders took about an hour to douse the fire caused by the explosion.
“We rushed five people to the hospital. Of them, four were declared brought dead. They died of asphyxia. One of the family members suffered burn injuries.”
Fire officials identified the four dead as Munni Devi, 45, her sons — Naresh, 22, Om Prakash, 20, and daughter, Suman, 18. Officials said the survivor, One of their relatives, Lal Chand (29) sustained 25% burn injuries.
A portion of the roof had collapsed due to the explosion, the fire, officials said, adding that a gas stove repair shop was located in the front portion of the house. “All five members were rescued by fire service personnel with the help of police by breaking windows and doors of the house. They were then shifted to Dr Hedgewar Hospital by CATS ambulance. Four among them were declared brought dead by doctors,” said R Sathiyasundaram, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Shahdara).
A crime team was called to the spot for an inspection, the officer said. He added that an electrical short-circuit is suspected to have sparked the blaze.
A case has been registered under sections 285 (negligent conduct with respect to fire or combustible matter), 304A (causing death by negligence) and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the owner of the gas stove repair shop and his niece, according to the police.
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Gas explosion
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Tasmanian beaches have more glass rubbish than plastic, study finds
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New research published in an international scientific journal shows Tasmania has a much higher proportion of glass on its beaches than plastic, bucking international trends. PhD candidate Kathryn Willis led a team of volunteers surveying about 250 sites in southern and northern Tasmania and on the east coast, and her findings have been published in the journal Nature.
Globally about 60 to 80 per cent of litter on shorelines is usually plastic, but in Tasmania it was closer to 40 per cent.
"It's really interesting about the glass, because it's broken, it's not easily transported by the ocean," Ms Willis said.
"So it was highly likely this glass we've found has come from beach users and locals in the area."
The marine litter was most concentrated in areas near stormwater drains, and Ms Willis will now focus her studies on litter abatement in those areas. Scientists estimate about 8.4 million tonnes of rubbish lands in the worlds' oceans each year.
Britta Denise Hardesty from CSIRO's Oceans and Atmosphere Division was recently invited to present at the world's first G20 summit on marine pollution.
She said Ms Willis's findings were significant. "Glass doesn't float but plastic does. So what we can infer there is a significant amount of littering that is happening at a very local level, and that means people dropping things," she said.
"So that means we can actually target intervention or awareness raising."
She said most people were reluctant to feel a responsibility for litter, particularly in oceans. 'The most common thing we hear is, 'it's not us, all this stuff is (being washed up) from somewhere else'. What we've found is that most of the litter, most of the debris we find is local in origin." Last year there was a parliamentary push by the Greens for Tasmania to introduce a cash-for-container recycling scheme, similar to those used in South Australia and other states.
The State Government voted against the motion but said it was already investigating such a scheme.
A spokesman said the government had since received a report from the EPA and was carefully considering it.
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Environment Pollution
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Facebook Inc. overpaid billions of dollars to the Federal Trade Commission as part of an agreement to keep CEO Mark Zuckerberg from being held personally liable for the Cambridge Analytica data breach, shareholders claim in a pair of lawsuits.
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Facebook Inc. overpaid billions of dollars to the Federal Trade Commission as part of an agreement to keep CEO Mark Zuckerberg from being held personally liable for the Cambridge Analytica data breach, shareholders claim in a pair of lawsuits. Two separate groups of Facebook FB, -0.90% shareholders filed suit Tuesday, Politico first reported , alleging that Facebook’s board approved an over-payment on its settlement with the FTC over the Cambridge Analytica scandal to protect Zuckerberg. One of the lawsuits claimed that in early 2019, a draft complaint from the FTC named both Facebook and Zuckerberg as defendants. The suit cited minutes from a subsequent Facebook board meeting, and claimed “Zuckerberg, [COO Sheryl] Sandberg, and other Facebook directors agreed to authorize a multi-billion settlement with the FTC as an express quid pro quo to protect Zuckerberg from being named in the FTC’s complaint, made subject to personal liability, or even required to sit for a deposition.” Also read: Facebook to review its practice of separate rules for high-profile users In July 2019, Facebook agreed to pay the FTC a record fine of $5 billion to settle the investigation into the Cambridge Analytics data breach. The suit was filed on behalf of the Employees’ Retirement System of Rhode Island and the City of Warwick (R.I.) Retirement System. The second lawsuit also claimed Facebook has failed in its obligation to protect the private data of its users, and alleged that the Cambridge Analytics’ data scraping was a “destined consequence” of Facebook’s business plan. Plaintiffs in that suit include the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, New York’s construction and laborers’ Local No. 79 general fund, the City of Birmingham (Ala.) retirement system and Firemen’s Retirement System of St. Louis.
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Organization Fine
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Schools still closed for nearly 77 million students 18 months into pandemic – UNICEF
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NEW YORK, 16 September 2021 – Eighteen months into the COVID-19 pandemic, schools for nearly 77 million students in six countries continue to be almost completely closed, according to an updated data analysis released today by UNICEF. According to the analysis, Bangladesh, the Philippines and Panama are among the countries that kept schools closed the longest. In total, an estimated 131 million students in 11 countries have missed more than three-quarters of their in-person learning. Around 27 per cent of countries worldwide continue to have schools fully or partially closed. “As classes resume in many countries around the world, millions of students are heading into a third academic year without stepping foot in a classroom,” said UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore. “The losses that students are incurring from not being in school may never be recovered.” To call attention to the 18 months of lost learning, deferred potential and uncertain future, and to urge governments to reopen schools as soon as possible, UNICEF and partners will close down their digital channels today at 13.00 GMT for 18 hours. School closures have created a shadow crisis for children. Beyond falling behind on their education, many children are missing out on school-based meals and routine vaccinations, experiencing social isolation and increased anxiety, and being exposed to abuse and violence. For some, school closures have led to drop out, child labour and child marriage. Many parents have been unable to continue with their employment while balancing their children’s care and learning needs. Some have lost their jobs entirely, pushing their families into poverty and creating a deeper economic crisis. While remote learning has been a lifeline for millions of schoolchildren, access to the technology and the quality of the curriculum have been uneven even within communities and school districts. Experience shows that schools are not the main drivers of transmission and that it is possible to keep them open for in-person learning. UNICEF urges governments, local authorities and school administrations to reopen schools as soon as possible and take all possible steps to mitigate against transmission of the virus in schools, such as: To support these efforts, UNICEF contributed to a multi-agency Framework for School Reopening to provide practical and flexible advice for national and local governments and aid their efforts to return students to in-person learning. “The education crisis is still here, and with each passing day that classrooms remain dark, the devastation worsens,” said Fore. “This is a crisis we will not allow the world to ignore. Our channels are silent, but our message is loud: Every community, everywhere must reopen schools as soon as possible. Schools must be the last to close and the first to reopen. We have to start putting the best interest of every child first. In all but the most extreme cases, this means getting students back into the classroom.”
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Organization Closed
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Celebration versus surrender: QAnon hairdresser, Brazilian asylee catch different sentences
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Dona Sue Bissey must serve 14 days in prison, while Eliel Rosa received one year of probation. Federal judges pointed to their behavior after the Capitol riot as a basis for these diverging punishments. WASHINGTON (CN) — Marking the second time she has given a Capitol rioter a heftier sentence than the one sought by prosecutors, U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan ordered an Indiana hairdresser to prison on Tuesday. “There must be consequences,” Chutkan said at the hearing in Washington, also giving Dona Sue Bissey 60 hours of community service and the standard $500 fee that all Jan. 6 defendants must pay. “I think incarceration is necessary in order to deter future misconduct.” Last week, Chutkan sentenced fellow Jan. 6 defendant Matthew Mazzocco to prison time, despite the government’s recommendation of home confinement. Chutkan noted that she wants Bissey behind bars partially because the 53-year-old bragged about the riot on social media. “It was a day I’ll remember forever. I’m proud that I was a part of it! No shame. BTW turn off the #FakeNews,” Bissey wrote on Facebook. Bissey, a hair stylist who subscribes to QAnon conspiracy theories, walked around the Capitol building for 10 minutes with her friend Anna Morgan-Lloyd — a rioter who received three years of probation. “The fact that she subscribes to bizarre conspiracy theories, that’s her right. That’s something she is allowed to do as an American,” Chutkan said. “It’s one thing to believe in conspiracy theories in your basement. It’s another thing to act on it.” In a defense sentencing memorandum, Bissey’s attorney Cara Halverson said that Bissey's hometown has shunned the woman in the wake of the riot — her business is losing clients, she has sunk into a state of depression, she is frequently harassed, and she has difficulty sleeping. The government offered little sympathy. “If you don’t want to suffer an economic loss to your business, don’t join a mob and then write on social media that it was the ‘best day of your life,’” Justice Department attorney Joshua Rothstein said Tuesday. Chutkan was likewise unimpressed when Halverson pointed to Bissey's immunocompromised status — she is “likely to suffer severe illness or even death” in lockup, Halverson said — as a basis to keep her out jail. “You want me to take into account her health status and underlying illness, yet Ms. Bissey has not seen fit to do something about that, to alleviate that risk,” Chutkan said, referencing Bissey’s refusal to get vaccinated against the novel coronavirus. “That cannot be a reason why she gets a more lenient sentence.” As for his client's post-insurrection celebration on social media, Halverson told Chutkan that the gravity of Bissey’s actions may not have hit her right away but that she is now deeply ashamed and remorseful. "She's gregarious, she's warm. I can promise you she's not a monster. She's a woman who made a mistake,” the lawyer said. Chutkan opted not to give Bissey any probation, saying that the probation office is already overwhelmed and it would be a waste of resources. Elsewhere at the courthouse Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Trevor McFadden imposed a probationary sentence of one year on fellow Jan. 6 defendant Eliel Rosa. “You participated in a shameful event, a national event that made us all feel less safe, less confident that this country can be run democratically, and not by mob rule,” McFadden told Rosa, a Brazilian immigrant who has been living in Texas since he was granted U.S. asylum. Defense attorney Michelle Peterson noted that Rosa has been complying with the immigration court and will most likely receive additional consequences there. Rosa walked around in the Capitol with his co-defendant Jenney Cudd, and then turned himself into the FBI on Jan. 8 — just two days after the riot. “He acted in a way that the vast majority of other individuals did not,” Amanda Fretto, a Justice Department attorney, noted Tuesday. McFadden underscored this point, saying he’d never heard of a person turning themselves in before they even became a suspect. The government recommended one month of home confinement and three years of probation, but McFadden told Fretto that home confinement “feels odd” and he isn’t sure what it would accomplish. “If men were angels, no government would be necessary,” Rosa quoted from James Madison’s Federalist 51, then said, “I’m definitely not an angel.” Rosa thanked taxpayers for footing the bill for his public defender, said he would “humbly accept” whatever McFadden’s sentence was, and stated that he knew U.S. citizenship was a privilege, not a right. “Your actions are even more surprising given your clear knowledge of our nation’s founding ideals,” McFadden said.
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Sentence
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6 Different Divorce Announcements From 6 Chinese Celebrity Couples
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Wong and Li married in 2005 and later had a daughter together whom they named Li Yan (李嫣). However on 13th September 2013, the couple officially announced their divorce. Wong left a message on Weibo saying, “This is the end of this life for husband and wife. I’m fine, you (should also) take care.”
Li replied saying that he still loves Wong but “the only thing I can do for (her) is to let (her) go with my heart full of regrets.” He wished her well and reassured fans that other matters like the custody of their daughter and their finances were taken care of. “I wish you all the best,” he said to Wong. “The sun will still rise tomorrow!”
Source: Xuan
2. Selina Jen (任家萱) and Richard Chang (張承中)
Source: English Pop Station
Fans only knew that Selina was dating someone during a concert in Taipei on 29th May 2010. It was announced then that Lawyer Richard Chang had asked Selina to be his girlfriend. Even after Selina was badly burned by fire, Chang stayed by her side, supporting and comforting her. They married in 2011, but four years later, the two officially divorced. Selina explained they did not make the decision overnight. She stated on Facebook that the two of them did not manage their marriage well, nor did she play the role of a good wife. “I became a wife, but I didn’t become a very good wife,” she wrote.
Source: Xuan
3. Ma Yili (马伊琍) and Wen Zhang (文章)
Source: Dramapanda
Ma and Wen fell in love with each other during the filming of the TV series “Struggle” in 2006. They later married in 2008 and were blessed with a daughter that very year itself. However, in 2014, while Ma was pregnant with their second child, it was revealed that Wen had an affair with another actress Yao Di (姚笛). Although Ma forgave him after he made a public apology on Weibo, they eventually divorced in 2019.
Their public announcement was made on 28th July. Ma wrote, “We loved each other. We tried hard and completed each other in the past. We may have regrets over our relationship, but there is nobody in the wrong here. I hope that in the future, we can both lead happy lives.” Wen also penned a post on his own, saying, “I love Ma Yili, (we) walked together halfway and separated. There’s still the rest of our lives, (we) will still be protecting each other as family.” According to netizens, this was the most poetic announcement.
Source: Xuan
4. Zhou Xun (周迅) and Archie Kao (高圣远)
Source: TODAYonline
Zhou and Kao surprised many when they announced their marriage publicly in 2014. However, work separated the couple and rumours popped up about their relationship. Things came to head in 2020 when another woman posted a photo of Kao and her kissing. Netizens suspected she was Kao’s new girlfriend. This was further evident when the lady posted a photo of a love letter addressed to Kao.
Near the end of 2020, the couple officially announced their divorce. Their six-year marriage was brought to an end with three simple words. “Good luck,” the couple wrote to one another. It is unclear if they ended on good or bad terms, but the relationship was definitely over. Netizens found this to be the most unique way of announcing a divorce.
Source: Xuan
5. Zanilia Zhao (赵丽颖) and William Feng (馮紹峰)
Source: Pinterest
Many awaited a relationship between this couple for a long time. Having acted together in many shows, people speculated that the two were seeing each other. However, they only confirmed the status of their relationship in 2018. They got married that same year on 16th October. They were blessed with a son on 8th March 2019 but many suspected the marriage was headed in a downhill direction as the couple were seemingly spending too much time on work. On 23rd April 2021, the duo divorced with a short but succinct sentence to announce it. “The days are long, the past is very good and the future is better,” they wrote and tagged each other at the end of their post.
Source: Xuan
6. Tong Liya (佟丽娅) and Chen Sicheng (陈思诚)
Source: ent.sina.com
Tong and Chen met in 2011 and later married in 2014. They were blessed with one son and many thought the marriage would last. However, in 2017, it was discovered that Chen had been having affairs with other women. Tong forgave him, but they eventually divorced on 20th May, otherwise known unofficially as China’s Valentine’s Day. The date ‘520’ sounds like the phrase “I love you” in Mandarin.
Chen made the announcement by posting photos of Tong and their five-year-old son. He captioned the photos with “From 2011 to 2020, the story ended. You will always be the ones I love the most, I will guard you with a different identity now.” Tong responded to the post with, “I had a worthwhile time and am looking forward to the future. Thank you.”
Source: Weibo
Hopefully, you guys will never have to pen an announcement for a divorce. If you do, you can get some inspiration here.
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Famous Person - Divorce
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Vladimir Putin declares state of emergency in Arctic region over Norilsk fuel spill
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared a state of emergency in a region of Siberia after an estimated 21,000 tonnes of diesel fuel spilled from a power plant storage facility, in an accident experts say will take "decades" to clear.
The spill took place last week at a power plant in an outlying section of the city of Norilsk, 2,900 kilometres north-east of Moscow.
A fuel tank at a power station in the remote, industrial region lost pressure on May 29 and leaked fuel and lubricants into the Ambarnaya River, according to the Investigative Committee, Russia's top criminal investigation body.
The Ambarnaya feeds a lake from which springs another river that leads to the environmentally delicate Arctic Ocean.
At a televised government meeting to discuss the spill, Mr Putin said he was shocked to find out local authorities had only learned of the incident from social media two days after it happened and scolded the region's governor Alexander Uss on air.
"Are we to learn about emergency situations from social networks? Are you alright healthwise over there?" Mr Putin said, waving his hand across his eyes.
The state environment watchdog said 15,000 tonnes of oil products had seeped into the river system with another 6,000 into the subsoil.
The state fisheries agency says the river will need decades to recover.
An expanse of crimson water could be seen stretching from shore to shore down a river and one of its offshoots in aerial footage published by the RIA news agency this week.
Mr Putin said he supported a proposal to declare a national state of emergency in the area as it would help the clean-up.
The environmental impact from the spill could last for "decades", Russia's Greenpeace climate project manager Vasily Yablokov has said.
"We're currently talking about cleaning up the initial pollution from the surface of the water, pumping out the fuel, pumping out the polluted water as far as possible, depending on the reservoirs, cleaning up the polluted ground," he said.
"However, there will be enough pollution to poison [the environment] for years to come and it will require recultivation, cleaning, which will take years."
Alexei Knizhnikov of the World Wildlife Fund's Russia operation said the damage to fish and other resources could exceed 1 billion rubles ($20.8 million).
Over 100 specialists have been dispatched to the area by the emergency services, as well as equipment and experts from Russian state oil corporations. The plant is operated by a division of Norilsk Nickel, the world's leading nickel and palladium producer, whose factories in the area have made Norilsk one of the most heavily polluted places on Earth.
The company says it is doing all it can to clear up the spill, and specialists from Moscow have laid booms to section off the affected part of the river to stop the oil products spreading further.
Svetlana Radionova, head of Russia's Federal Service for Supervision of Natural Resources said 100 cubic metres of diesel fuel had been collected and "placed in temporary reservoirs on the banks of the river".
No cause for the accident has been determined, but a company statement said it was concerned about facilities constructed on sinking soil above permafrost.
The Investigative Committee has launched an investigation into the circumstances of the spill, and an employee of the plant has been detained.
Norilsk is a remote city of 180,000 situated 300km inside the Arctic Circle.
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Environment Pollution
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2003 Polish Air Force Mi-8 crash
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On 4 December 2003, a Polish Mi-8 helicopter operated by the 36th Special Aviation Regiment carrying Poland's Prime Minister Leszek Miller crashed near Piaseczno, just outside Warsaw. [1] The pilot performed an autorotation landing in a forest following the failure of both engines. The helicopter suffered extensive damage and was written off as a total loss, but despite the severity of the crash there were no fatalities. Fourteen of the 15 people on board were injured, including Leszek Miller, who had two of his thoracic vertebrae broken. The helicopter was 26 years old at the time of the crash, and was close to the end of its service. It belonged to the 36th Special Aviation Regiment responsible for transporting Polish government officials. The pilot of the helicopter was major Marek Miłosz, later promoted to lieutenant colonel. The cause of the engine failure was determined to be icing. [2]
On 10 March 2004, Miłosz was criminally charged with violating flight safety rules and causing the crash. [1] Specifically, the pilot was blamed for not manually turning on the deicing equipment during the flight. The pilot argued that the meteorologic information available to him at the time did not indicate that icing was likely, and hence he was not required to turn on the deicing equipment. He was consulting a thermometer during the flight, but it suffered from a systematic measurement error and hence was unable to warn of icing. In addition, during the flight an unusual thermal inversion occurred; the temperature rose with altitude, which the pilot could not have predicted. [1]
In March 2010, the 6-year trial ended with a verdict of not guilty. [1] The judge in the case noted the pilot expertly carried out the difficult autorotation landing and that the passengers survived because of his superb piloting skills. Leszek Miller declared that if he had to fly again in a helicopter in difficult atmospheric conditions, he would choose Miłosz as his pilot. [3]
Coordinates: 52°02′08″N 21°04′06″E / 52.03556°N 21.06833°E / 52.03556; 21.06833
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Air crash
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Premier Ford visits Wheatley as province takes over gas explosion investigation
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Premier Doug Ford now has a first hand account of the devastation in Wheatley following last month's gas explosion that left 20 people injured.
Ford and Minister of Northern Development, Mines, Natural Resources and Forestry Greg Rickford paid a visit to the blast site on Tuesday.
Rickford's ministry has agreed to take the lead on the investigation into identifying the source of the hydrogen sulphide gas believed to be the cause and to recommend ways to prevent future gas leaks.
He says emergency workers deserve some recognition.
"It was a very powerful visit. Obviously, we have an appreciation for the hard work of the frontline workers and city officials and how the town and surrounding area is rallying to help. We'll continue to put all hands on deck to help the good folks in Wheatley recover from this moving forward."
Rickford says the province is committed to finding answers.
"The investigation as to the source, there's still a lot of open ended questions and getting to the bottom of the source of this is obviously first and foremost. When we spoke to town officials we reminded them that we would not compromise the safety and continuity of the downtown."
Ontario Premier Doug Ford visits Wheatley on September 21, 2021 (Photo courtesy of the Municipality of Chatham-Kent)
He says the province is fully funding the investigation.
"We've brought in some heavy hitters. We've retained a global expertise company to not just do the ongoing monitoring, but to assist in understanding the source and stress testing that with a group of experts that are coming in from Alberta who offer up world class expertise."
Ford and Rickford were joined by several officials from the municipality including Mayor Darrin Canniff.
The evacuation zone remains in place and there's still no timeline for residents to return to their homes.
Outreach services are available for residents at the Wheatley Village Resource Centre and Food Bank and case managers are on site Monday through Friday from 10am to 2pm.
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Gas explosion
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Kalol explosion: FIR against two former ONGC staffers
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AHMEDABAD: Police have filed an FIR of criminal negligence causing death in connection with the blast of a pipeline of Oil and Natural Gas Corporation ( ONGC ), which killed three persons in December 2020. The pipeline passed beneath a residential society in Kalol.
Police filed the FIR on Tuesday for giving the nod to build the housing society despite the knowledge that the gas pipeline passed under the land in question.
The FIR states that permissions were given by several government agencies and ONGC despite the knowledge that the gas pipeline might pose a risk to people.
The FIR of Kalol taluka police names a former land acquisition officer of ONGC, Dipak Narolia, who had on June 15, 2009, given the NOC (no-objection certificate) to build the housing society. It also names a former head draftsman of ONGC, Ghanshyam Patel.
Besides, the FIR mentions “the person from AUDA who got the land converted from agricultural to NA (non-agricultural) use in 2008.” The FIR also cites “the person who committed irregularity in getting NOCs from various departments concerned, and the builder who carried out construction work in 2010.” Further, police have moved against “all the responsible persons who were involved in the irregularity.”
The blast killed Amit Dave, 26, Pinal Dave, 26, and Hansa Dave, 76, residents of house number 159 in Garden Society in Saij village in Kalol. Their neighbour in house number 158, Hasmukh Patel, suffered injuries. The explosion occurred at about 7.30am on December 22, 2020.
The FIR has come at a time when a public interest litigation is being heard by the Gujarat high court seeking a police complaint against the accused and compensation for the victims.
During the probe, the investigators wrote to the HR head of ONGC, S K Chaturvedi, about the pipeline. He had replied on December 23, 2020, that there was no active gas pipeline beneath the society and an unused pipeline lay there.
On January 25, 2021, Chaturvedi told the investigators that the gas pipeline had been active till September 24, 2020.
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Gas explosion
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1996 Secaucus train collision
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On February 9, 1996, two NJ Transit commuter trains collided at Bergen Junction (since removed/abandoned) in Secaucus, NJ. This accident occurred during the morning rush hour just south of the current Secaucus Junction station. It is NJ Transit's deadliest accident to date and was the first in which NJ Transit passengers and crew died. 3 people were killed and 162 others sustained injuries. The trains involved in the accident were Trains #1254 and #1107. Train #1254 had departed Waldwick at 8:03 a.m. EST, about 5 minutes later than the 7:58 a.m. departure time. The train would make stops at Ho Ho Kus, Ridgewood, Radburn Fair Lawn, Broadway Fair Lawn, Plauderville , Garfield, Rutherford, and Harmon Cove. The train's final stop was supposed to be Hoboken Terminal with an arrival expected at 8:44 a.m. Aboard the train was engineer was John J. DeCurtis, conductor Stephen Miller, as well as an unnamed assistant conductor. Train #1254 consisted of one Comet II cab car (#5146), 4 trailer Comet I cars, and a GP40PH-2 #4110. Train #1254 made all stops on the Bergen County Line except Glen Rock Boro Hall; the train also made a stop at Harmon Cove (it was replaced by Secaucus Junction by 2003). At the time of the collision, the train had over 250 passengers aboard. [1]
Train #1107, headed for Suffern, had departed Hoboken Terminal at 8:31 a.m. EST, about one minute late. Train #1107 was operated by engineer Alfonso Debonis, as well as an unnamed conductor and assistant conductor. #1107 consisted of GP40PH-2 #4148, 5 Comet I trailer cars, and one Comet I cab car (#5120). At the time of the collision, the train held 125 passengers and 2 deadheading NJT employees who were traveling to Suffern so they could operate another train that originated there. Both trains were running in push-pull configuration. [1]
Train #1254 had left Harmon Cove station at 8:33 a.m. with 275 passengers and accelerated to 53 mph. Meanwhile, Train #1107 departed Hoboken at 8:31 a.m. with 125 passengers aboard. Train #1254 soon passed a medium approach position light signal telling the train to slow down at 34 mph, according to black box data. The next signal would show the engineer a stop indication at Bergen Junction to wait for Train #1107 to pass before Train #1254 would be allowed to continue to Hoboken. Train #1254 continued to slow until about 71 feet before the stop signal. The engineer then accelerated the train to 20 mph after passing the red signal. Shortly afterward, the engineer realized his mistake and the train went into emergency braking. Several moments earlier, Train #1107 had been shown a clear signal and was approaching the western end of Bergen Junction at 53 mph (the track speed for that section was 60 mph). Train #1254 was moving at 18 mph when the collision occurred. Passenger accounts on Train #1254 describe the sound of the brakes and the blaring of the train horn moments before the collision. [1]
Cab Car #5146 was ripped open in the collision, killing the engineer John J. DeCurtis and a passenger aboard train #1254, Arthur David Stern. Locomotive #4148's roof collapsed in on the cab on impact thereby killing Engineer Alfonso Debonis instantly. In addition, 162 passengers were injured. [2]
There were three fatalities:
The accident was New York City's worst train accident since the 1958 Newark Bay rail accident. [2]
Following the accident, Comet II cab car #5146 was scrapped, while GP40PH-2 #4110 and Comet I cab car #5120 continued in revenue service until its eventual retirement and donation to the Whippany Railroad Museum in New Jersey. One year later, In 1997, GP40PH-2 #4148 was rebuilt, and put back in service as #4219 following the rebuild. The New Jersey Transit Police Department was notified at 8:40 am and arrived at the accident site 13 minutes later. Other emergency services arrived within about 10 to 20 minutes after the first several 911 calls were made. [1]
The conductor of train #1254 was able to evacuate all passengers of the train with the help of the assistant conductor. The conductor aboard train #1107 was reported to be visibly upset, repeatedly crying that "people are dead" which also worried many passengers, the 2 deadheading NJ Transit employees helped evacuate the train instead. After the evacuation, the remaining crew members stood watch to flag down any oncoming trains. Both crews abroad both trains did not use the public address system to communicate with passengers, they instead went from car to car yelling for passengers to exit the train. The assistant conductor aboard train #1254 later reported that he did not know if the public address system was working or not, so he did not use it. The conductor aboard train #1107 could not recall if the system worked or not. Throughout the evacuation process, both train crews communicated by hand held radio. The accident was first reported by the engineer of an eastbound NJ Transit train on the Main Line at 8:45 am. [1]
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Train collisions
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German national rail strike of 2007
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The German national rail strike of 2007 was a strike in Germany by the locomotive engineers union, Gewerkschaft Deutscher Lokomotivführer (GDL, or German Train Drivers' Union), which began on November 14, 2007 and ended on November 17, 2007. The union struck Deutsche Bahn, the state-owned company which operates the German rail system. It was the largest strike in history (as of 2007) against Deutsche Bahn. [1][2][3]
German Train Drivers' Union/Gewerkschaft Deutscher Lokomotivführer (known by its German initials, GDL) is a relatively small union which represents about 34,000 train drivers in Germany. [4]
In the fall of 2007, the union demanded a 31 percent wage increase from Deutsche Bahn, the state-owned company which operates the German rail system. The wage demand was far higher than the 4.5 percent wage increase won in July by Transnet Gewerkschaft (Transnet) and Verkehrsgewerkschaft GDBA (GDBA), the railway's two other large unions which together represent about 195,000 workers. [5]
But GDL argued that German locomotive engineers are paid less than their counterparts in other European countries. [1][6]
Deutsche Bahn rejected the wage demand. The company said that it was committed to the long-standing German trade union practice of bargaining a coordinated contract with all its unions at once to create uniform wage standards. Deutsche Bahn argued that meeting GDL's wage demands would break this pattern and lead to wage demands from other unions. [1][6]
Deutsche Bahn countered by offering a one-time payment of €2,000 (about $2,934) and a 10 percent wage increase, with a two-hour extension of the work week. [6][7] But GDL chairman Manfred Schell said the Deutsche Bahn offer was not acceptable as a basis for reopening talks. [8] Deutsche Bahn refused to make another wage offer, and the company's 20-member supervisory board announced that it supported management's decision. [7]
Both sides also engaged in a vitriolic war of words which held out little chance of avoiding a strike. Schell accused Deutsche Bahn of "raping"[1] the country and the union, and declared DB had "provoked"[8] the strike. Deutsche Bahn, in turn, accused GDL of "blackmail"[8] and "madness"[7] and said any strike would be "destructive" and an "economic disaster. "[8] Schell denounced the company, declaring, "This is all a theatrical performance by the railway. "[7]
Any strike was considered "...a bold gamble by an isolated union. "[1] GDL represented a mere 3 percent of Deutsche Bahn's workforce. No other Deutsche Bahn union supported the engineers' strike, nor did the German federation of trade unions, Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund (DGB). But GDL had a tradition of breaking with other unions in wage negotiations. GDL also believed the time was ripe for a nationwide strike. Chancellor Angela Merkel's government had planned to sell a 49 percent stake in Deutsche Bahn to the public. The union believed it had to seek its wage demands now before the privatization effort began. [1][8][9]
GDL engaged in a series of strikes throughout the summer and fall designed to increase pressure on the railway prior to engaging in a nationwide walkout. A short strike occurred in July 2007, and Deutsche Bahn sued the union for €5 million ($7.3 million) in damages. [1] In October and early November 2007, GDL held several short strikes against local commuter lines, stopping work for a total of 65 hours. On November 10, 2007, the union held a 42-hour strike which stopped about 90 percent of all freight trains in the country. [6] Deutsche Bahn estimated the November 10 freight strike cost €50 million ($73 million) each day. [8][10]
Public sector workers in Germany have a severely restricted right to strike. [11] Deutsche Bahn had previously won a court ruling limiting any strike to local service. But in early November 2007, the GDL union won the right to strike freight and long-distance trains as well. [6]
GDL announced that the strike against freight service would begin at noon Central European Time (CET) on November 14, while the strike against local and long-distance passenger trains would start at 2:00 a.m. CET on November 15. The union said the walkout would end at 2:00 a.m. CET on November 17, 2007. [6]
Both strikes began on schedule. [7]
Chancellor Merkel, adhering to the federal government's tradition of not intervening in labor disputes, declined to intervene. But other federal government officials pleaded for the resumption of negotiations. [1] Transport Minister Wolfgang Tiefensee said ministry officials were working behind the scenes to mediate the dispute. [10]
As anticipated, the strike affected train service nationwide. However, the company brought in 1,000 managers and other employees to keep trains running. [2][5] Still, more than 40 percent of all freight trains were halted. [5] While 50 percent of regional passenger trains in western Germany were running,[3][5] only one in 10 regional passenger trains operated in eastern Germany. [7][12] Disruptions in local service varied. In Berlin and Munich, commuter service was only minimally interrupted, but by the end of the day only a third of all trains had run. [13] But in Hamburg, Frankfurt and Stuttgart, major cutbacks in train schedules occurred. [3][13] In North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany's most populous state, trains ran every hour. [5] Two-thirds of the country's high-speed InterCityExpress trains were running normally. [7][14]
The economic impact of the strike appeared to be heavy. Deutsche Bahn said the strike cost it €50 million ($73 million) a day. [1] Automobile manufacturers, which depended heavily on trains for moving vehicles, found inventories backing up immediately.
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Strike
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May 2002 Belfast riots
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The May 2002 Belfast riots were riots that occurred in north Belfast, Northern Ireland. On Saturday May 2002, up to 800 people were involved in sectarian clashes beginning shortly after the Scottish Cup Final in which Rangers F.C. beat Celtic F.C. Petrol bombs and fireworks were thrown at Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) officers. That night 28 police officers and 10 civilians were injured, including two Protestant men who were shot. [1]
The PSNI fired 40 plastic baton rounds at rioters, which happened in and around Ardoyne, Crumlin Road and New Lodge. Two officers had serious injuries, one with a suspected fractured skull and another being treated for spinal injuries. Several homes around Whitewell Road came under attack. Both sides blamed each other for starting the violence. DUP MP Nigel Dodds and Progressive Unionist Party Assembly member Billy Hutchinson blamed republicans for starting the trouble, while a Sinn Féin councillor said the trouble began when 12 loyalists attacked nationalist homes with iron bars, and blamed the Ulster Defence Association (UDA) for orchestrating it. Another Sinn Fein councillor said the trouble began when loyalists threw bricks and bottles.
On a second night of violence, pipe bombs were thrown at police and three officers were injured in the middle of confrontations between loyalists and nationalists. A loyalist community worker said that the violence was a consequence of the shooting of two Protestants the night before.
North Belfast had already seen tensions and violence up to that point in the year, including in both March and April 2002, the latter of which involved a bomb explosion. [3]
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Riot
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2002 South American Games
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Athletics events at the 2002 South American Games were held at the Estádio Olímpico do Pará in Belém, Brazil, between August 1–3, 2002. [1] For the first time, the tournament was restricted to junior athletes (U-20). The results were used to determine the medals awarded for this year's South American Junior Championships. A total of 44 events were contested, 22 by men and 22 by women. Medal winners were published in a book written by Argentinian journalist Ernesto Rodríguez III with support of the Argentine Olympic Committee (Spanish: Comité Olímpico Argentino) under the auspices of the Ministry of Education (Spanish: Ministerio de Educación de la Nación) in collaboration with the Office of Sports (Spanish: Secretaría de Deporte de la Nación). [2] Eduardo Biscayart supplied the list of winners and their results. [3] Further results are published for the South American Junior
Championships (Netherlands Antilles unregarded). [4] Churandy Martina's results are collected elsewhere. [5][6]
Results that are identical to the South American Junior Championships are shown
elsewhere. Here, only those results are displayed that are different. Further events with low participation (only 4 athletes from 3 countries) are
men's High jump and Javelin throw, and women's 3000 metres steeplechase, Shot
put, and Heptathlon. [4] However, there is no indication for awarding a
reduced number of medals. Other results of the men's events are shown
elsewhere. †: No medal because of lack of minimum participation. [2]
Other results of the women's events are shown
elsewhere. †: No medal because of lack of minimum participation. [2]
Doping offences during the athletics events of the games are documented elsewhere. An unofficial medal count for the athletics events at South American Games is
shown below. This medal table differs from the
medal
table published for the South American Under-23 Championships because of
different number of nations, and the minimum participation
necessary to award a full set of medals as introduced by ODESUR. Affected are the medal counts for Brazil, Chile, and the Netherlands Antilles. * Host nation (Brazil)
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Sports Competition
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WHO forms new expert group to study origin of COVID
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WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the news during his press briefing from Geneva, "following a public call for experts." Geneva Updated on: October 14, 2021 11:07 IST URL copied WHO forms new expert group to study origin of COVID. The World Health Organization (WHO) has launched an expert group that will study the origins of new pathogens, including SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19. WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus announced the news during his press briefing from Geneva, "following a public call for experts." The proposed members of the WHO Scientific Advisory Group for the Origins of Novel Pathogens (SAGO) were selected for their expertise in areas such as epidemiology, animal health, clinical medicine, virology and genomics. The 26 experts were selected from over 700 applications and were chosen for their world-class expertise and experience in a range of disciplines, as well as their geographic and gender diversity. "SAGO will advise WHO on the development of a global framework to define and guide studies into the origins of emerging and re-emerging pathogens with epidemic and pandemic potential, including SARS-CoV-2," he said. "The emergence of new viruses with the potential to spark epidemics and pandemics is a fact of nature, and while SARS-CoV-2 is the latest such virus, it will not be the last. "A two-week public consultation period will take place for WHO to receive feedback on the proposed SAGO members. Dr Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO Technical Lead on COVID-19, said the world must be better prepared for any future "Disease X". Answering a question, she stated that SAGO will recommend further studies in China, and potentially elsewhere, to understand the origins of the new coronavirus, UN News reported. While SAGO will advise WHO, any future missions will be organized by the UN agency and the country in question. "I want to make it very clear that the SAGO is not the next mission team. There's been some misrepresentation about that going forward," she said. A WHO-led team of scientists that travelled to China in early 2021 to investigate the origins of the virus struggled to get a clear picture of what research China was conducting beforehand, faced constraints during its visit, and had little power to conduct thorough and impartial research.
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Organization Established
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1998 Russian financial crisis
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The Russian financial crisis (also called ruble crisis or the Russian flu) hit Russia on 17 August 1998. It resulted in the Russian government and the Russian Central Bank devaluing the ruble and defaulting on its debt. The crisis had severe impacts on the economies of many neighboring countries. Meanwhile, James Cook, the senior vice president of The U.S. Russia Investment Fund, suggested the crisis had the positive effect of teaching Russian banks to diversify their assets. Declining productivity, a high fixed exchange rate between the ruble and foreign currencies to avoid public turmoil, fatal financial imprudence and a chronic fiscal deficit were the reasons that led to the crisis. The economic cost of the first war in Chechnya took a significant toll on the Russian economy. In early 1995, it was estimated that the war was costing Russia close to $30 million per day. Following the cessation of hostilities in 1996, it was estimated that the war in Chechnya cost Russia $5.5 billion, close to 10% of their GDP. [1][2] In the first half of 1997, the Russian economy showed some signs of improvement. However, soon after this, the problems began to gradually intensify.Two external shocks, the Asian financial crisis that had begun in 1997 and the following declines in demand for (and thus price of) crude oil and nonferrous metals, severely impacted Russian foreign exchange reserves. [3]
A political crisis came to a head in March when Russian president Boris Yeltsin suddenly dismissed Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin and his entire cabinet on 23 March 1998. [4] Yeltsin named Energy Minister Sergei Kiriyenko, then 35 years old, as acting prime minister. On 29 May 1998, Yeltsin appointed Boris Fyodorov as Head of the State Tax Service. In an effort to prop up the currency and stem the flight of capital, in June 1998 Kiriyenko hiked GKO interest rates to 150%. A $22.6 billion International Monetary Fund and World Bank financial package was approved on 13 July 1998 to support reforms and stabilize the Russian market by swapping out an enormous volume of the quickly maturing GKO short-term bills into long-term Eurobonds. The Russian government decided to keep the exchange rate of the ruble within a narrow band, although many economists, including Andrei Illarionov, urged the government to abandon its support of the ruble. On 12 May 1998, coal miners went on strike over unpaid wages, blocking the Trans-Siberian Railway. By 1 August 1998 there was approximately $12.5 billion in debt owed to Russian workers. On 14 August 1998 the exchange rate of the Russian ruble to the US dollar was still 6.29. Despite the bailout, July 1998 monthly interest payments on Russia's debt rose to a figure 40 percent higher than its monthly tax collections. Additionally, on 15 July 1998, the State Duma dominated by left-wing parties refused to adopt most of the government anti-crisis plan, so the government was forced to rely on presidential decrees. On 29 July Yeltsin interrupted his vacation in Valdai Hills region and flew to Moscow, prompting fears of a Cabinet reshuffle, but he only replaced Federal Security Service Chief Nikolay Kovalyov with Vladimir Putin. At the time, Russia employed a "floating peg" policy toward the ruble, meaning that the Central Bank decided that at any given time the ruble-to-dollar (or RUB/USD) exchange rate would stay within a particular range. If the ruble threatened to devalue outside of that range (or "band"), the Central Bank would intervene by spending foreign reserves to buy rubles. For instance, during the year before the crisis, the Central Bank aimed to maintain a band of 5.3 to 7.1 RUB/USD, meaning that it would buy rubles if the market exchange rate threatened to exceed 7.1 rubles/dollar. Similarly, it would sell rubles if the market exchange rate threatened to drop below 5.3. The inability of the Russian government to implement a coherent set of economic reforms led to a severe erosion in investor confidence and a chain reaction that can be likened to a run on the Central Bank. Investors fled the market by selling rubles and Russian assets (such as securities), which also put downward pressure on the ruble. This forced the Central Bank to spend its foreign reserves to defend Russia's currency, which in turn further eroded investor confidence and undermined the ruble. It is estimated that between 1 October 1997 and 17 August 1998, the Central Bank expended approximately $27 billion of its U.S. dollar reserves to maintain the floating peg. It was later revealed that about $5 billion of the international loans provided by the World Bank and International Monetary Fund were stolen upon the funds' arrival in Russia on the eve of the meltdown. [5][6]
On 17 August 1998, the Russian government devalued the ruble, defaulted on domestic debt, and declared a moratorium on repayment of foreign debt. [7] On that day the Russian government and the Central Bank of Russia issued a "Joint Statement" announcing, in essence, that:[8]
On 17 August 1998 the government declared that certain state securities (GKOs and OFZs) would be transformed into new securities. At the same time, in addition to widening the currency band, authorities also announced that they intended to allow the RUB/USD rate to move more freely within the wider band. At the time, the Moscow Interbank Currency Exchange (or "MICEX") set a daily "official" exchange rate through a series of interactive auctions based on written bids submitted by buyers and sellers. When the buy and sell prices matched, this "fixed" or "settled" the official MICEX exchange rate, which would then be published by Reuters. The MICEX rate was (and is) commonly used by banks and currency dealers worldwide as the reference exchange rate for transactions involving the Russian ruble and foreign currencies. From 17 to 25 August 1998, the ruble steadily depreciated on the MICEX, moving from 6.43 to 7.86 RUB/USD. On 26 August 1998, the Central Bank terminated dollar-ruble trading on the MICEX, and the MICEX did not fix a ruble-dollar rate that day. On 2 September 1998 the Central Bank of the Russian Federation decided to abandon the "floating peg" policy and float the ruble freely. By 21 September 1998 the exchange rate reached 21 rubles for one US dollar, meaning it lost two-thirds of its value of less than a month earlier. On 28 September 1998 Boris Fyodorov was discharged from the position of the Head of the State Tax Service. The moratorium imposed by the Joint Statement expired on 15 November 1998, and the Russian government and Central Bank did not renew it. Russian inflation in 1998 reached 84 percent and welfare costs grew considerably. Many banks, including Inkombank, Oneximbank and Tokobank, closed as a result of the crisis. Bankers Trust suffered major losses in the summer of 1998 due to the bank having a large position in Russian government bonds,[10] but avoided financial collapse by being acquired by Deutsche Bank for $10 billion in November 1998. [11] This made Deutsche Bank the fourth-largest money management firm in the world after UBS, Fidelity Investments, and the Japanese post office's life insurance fund. The main effect of the crisis on Russian agricultural policy has been a dramatic drop in federal subsidies to the sector, about 80 percent in real terms compared with 1997, though subsidies from
regional budgets fell less. [12]
The financial collapse resulted in a political crisis as Yeltsin, with his domestic support evaporating, had to contend with an emboldened opposition in the parliament. A week later, on 23 August 1998, Yeltsin fired Kiriyenko and declared his intention of returning Chernomyrdin to office as the country slipped deeper into economic turmoil.
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Financial Crisis
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Geologists look to past for answers on future tsunami threats
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Multiple large and destructive tsunamis in the past few decades in the Indian Ocean (2004), Chile (2010), and Japan (2011) have underscored the threat that tsunamis pose to coastal regions, ushering in a new era of research aimed at better predicting areas threatened by the fast-developing natural disasters. But documenting and examining recent events does not provide enough information to fully characterize coastal hazards, said Tina Dura, an assistant professor of coastal hazards in Virginia Tech’s Department of Geosciences. Dura is taking a new approach to help overcome that information deficit. She’s looking at the past, with an aim to understand what may lie ahead. “It is still too difficult to predict when a tsunami may strike if we only consider the recent past,” Dura said. “Some coastlines have not experienced a recent large tsunami, so we may underestimate the potential for infrequent, but large and destructive tsunami events,” Dura said. “We hope to change that by using geological history as our guide.” Dura’s Coastal Hazards Lab uses sand beds deposited by tsunamis and preserved in coastal environments to reconstruct past tsunami inundation over hundreds to thousands of years, helping better define coastal hazards in a region. Dura was part of research that appeared in Nature Geoscience today examining seismic risk of earthquakes and associated tsunamis in the Tokyo region. They used a combination of geological evidence of tsunami inundation along with tsunami modeling to determine what plate boundaries past regional tsunamis have originated from. The work revealed that earthquakes along a previously unconsidered plate boundary have produced significant tsunami inundation in the past, adding another possible source for earthquakes in the Tokyo region and tsunamis in the Pacific Ocean. Jessica DePaolis (left) and Tina Dura, of the Coastal Hazards Lab in the Department of Geosciences. Photo courtesy of Melissa Vergara. In another study published earlier this year, Dura, along with Jessica DePaolis, a Ph.D. student in the Coastal Hazards Lab, discovered important geologic evidence along the coast of north-central Chile that should help improve earthquake and tsunami hazards assessments along this coastline. Robert Weiss and Ben Gill, also members of the Department of Geosciences , contributed to the study. “This study describes the first geologic evidence of past tsunami inundation along the north-central Chile coast,” said Dura, who is an affiliated member of the Center for Coastal Studies , an arm of the Fralin Life Sciences Institute at Virginia Tech . “Every new tsunami deposit we describe helps paint a more complete picture of how tsunamis have behaved in the past and what we can expect in the future.” Their findings were published in Quaternary Science Reviews, a peer-reviewed journal covering earth, climate, and life interactions. “Visiting north-central Chile and seeing the tsunami evidence firsthand really drove home the power of this hands-on geologic effort to better understand tsunami hazards,” said DePaolis. “Leading the data collection and writing of the study was a big challenge but it was made possible by a great group of collaborators from Chile and the U.S.” The study focuses on a region of north-central Chile that lies along an active portion of a subduction zone that has produced multiple earthquakes larger than magnitude 8 over the past century, often accompanied by tsunamis. However, a combination of several factors, including a semi-arid climate, sand-dominated coastline, and historically sparse population, has limited the historical (written and instrumental) and geologic records of tsunamis in this region. A recent magnitude 8.3 earthquake and accompanying tsunami in north-central Chile on Sept. 16, 2015, provided a unique opportunity to examine the nature of tsunami deposits in the region. Dura describes tsunami sediment in North Central Chile with Breanyn MacInnes (Central Washington University) and Marco Cisternas (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Chile). Photo courtesy of Hermann Fritz. The Coastal Hazards Lab group employed both field-based (stratigraphic mapping, sediment descriptions, surveying) and laboratory-based methods (particle size, geochemical, modeling, and dating analyses) to identify two anomalous sand beds in a coastal wetland in Tongoy Bay, north-central Chile. Satellite imagery taken before and after the 2015 earthquake, and post-earthquake surveys show the younger sand bed was deposited by the 2015 tsunami. An older sand bed at the site was previously undocumented and was remarkably similar in composition to the 2015 tsunami sand bed. However, the older sand bed was slightly thicker and extended further inland than the 2015 tsunami sand, suggesting it was deposited by a larger event. Radionuclide dating, which using cesium and lead to calculate the recent rate of sedimentation in the wetland, constrained the age of the older sand bed to 1922, when a large earthquake and tsunami occurred to the north of the study site. Analysis of historical maps showing the land use history of the wetland further supported the timing of sand bed deposition in the wetland to the early 20th century. The discovery of a 1922 tsunami sand in north-central Chile shows that the 1922 tsunami produced significant inundation beyond the southern end of the earthquake rupture area. This provides additional insight into the type of ruptures that create high tsunamis along the north-central Chile coast. Dura said the results demonstrate that careful site selection and a multidisciplinary (e.g., stratigraphic, historical, and modeling) approach may help improve earthquake and tsunami histories along similar arid subduction zone coastlines. “We need more studies like this; it’s a crucial step,” said Robert Weiss, director of Virginia Tech’s Center for Coastal Studies . “This is essential information that the Chilean government or the towns within the potentially threatened region could take action with to help mitigate the human toll of a tsunami.”
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Tsunamis
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Kimberley children injured in second stolen car crash in a week
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Three children have been critically injured in an allegedly stolen car crash in Western Australia's north, less than a week after another allegedly stolen car with seven children rolled killing one girl and critically injuring four others. The boys aged 12, 14 and 16 years were travelling in a vehicle that had been stolen from the town of Wyndham on Friday night. Police said the underage driver lost control of the Land Cruiser on the Victoria Highway about 40 kilometres west of Kununurra, causing the vehicle to roll several times. One boy remained in a critical condition in hospital in Perth, while the other two were in Royal Darwin hospital in a critical condition. The crash came less than a week after a 12-year-old girl was killed while travelling in a stolen car that rolled near Fitzroy Crossing with seven children on board. The death has led to another round of grief, blame and threats of payback in the central Kimberley. WA Police were trying to dampen down tensions and did not comment on whether the driver involved in the fatal crash has been charged. The escalation of at-risk behaviour by children in the Kimberley has prompted calls for more government support. Last week Shire of Derby-West Kimberley Shire President Geoff Haerewa urged local families to take ownership of the situation. Both crashes are being investigated by officers from the WA Police Major Crash squad.
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Road Crash
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2017 Essendon Airport Beechcraft King Air crash
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On 21 February 2017, at 8:59 am local time, a Beechcraft B200 King Air aircraft operating a charter flight, carrying a pilot and four passengers bound for King Island, crashed seconds after taking off from Essendon Airport in Melbourne, Australia. [2]
The pilot made two mayday calls[3] before the aircraft clipped the roof of a building housing the Essendon Direct Factory Outlets (DFO). The aircraft then impacted the ground a few metres away and ignited, starting a fire. [4][5] The Direct Factory Outlets complex, located on the airport grounds, had not yet begun the day's trading. [6] All five people on board were killed in the crash, including the four passengers who were American tourists on their way to King Island to play golf. [5] Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews said it was the worst civil aviation accident in Victoria in 30 years. [7]
Media sources reported that the aircraft crashed as a result of an engine failure on take-off. [5]
Some local residents and aviation groups have stated that the crash shows buildings have been constructed too close to the airport. [8][9][10]
The official investigation's initial findings include that there were no pre-existing aircraft faults, that the pilot made a mayday call, that the voice recorder failed, and that witnesses said the take-off took "longer than normal". Engine tear-downs show that both powerplants were free to rotate and both propellers showed evidence of rotation, although only the left propeller left slash damage to the building roof. Further findings would be made public as the investigation was concluded. [11][12]
Four American passengers and the Australian pilot died in the crash. The aircraft was a Beechcraft B200 King Air, serial number BB-1544 and registered as VH-ZCR; it was manufactured in 1996[2] and had accumulated just under 7000 hours of service time. [1]
The Executive Director of the Australian branch of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA) criticised the practice of allowing commercial developments, such as the Essendon Direct Factory Outlets complex, at Australian airports, saying these reduced the options available to pilots in emergencies. He stated that AOPA had been calling on governments for two decades to stop such developments. [13] A spokesman for the Australian Federation of Air Pilots also criticised commercial development of land at Essendon Airport. [14] Anti-airport campaigners renewed calls for the airport to be closed. [14]
An investigation by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau determined the accident was a result of one of the flight control trim tabs being set incorrectly. Failure of the pilot to realise the rudder trim was set fully to the left caused a longer than normal takeoff, and caused the aircraft to slip and yaw to the left once airborne. Ultimately the uncorrected configuration caused a loss of control of the aircraft. The checklist used by the pilot did not contain a specific check for the trim tab position before takeoff. The investigation was hindered by the lack of data from the cockpit voice recorder, which had stopped working on a previous flight. [note 1] Furthermore, the weight of the aircraft at takeoff exceeded its maximum takeoff weight, but this factor was not determined to be a contributing factor to the crash. [1][15]
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Air crash
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Emaciated deep-water dolphin found on Florida beach had plastic bags and balloon in stomach
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A deep-water dolphin that was found stranded on a United States beach and later euthanased had a stomach full of trash, according to wildlife authorities.
Biologists said they found two plastic bags and a shredded balloon during a necropsy of the young rough-toothed dolphin after it washed ashore on Fort Myers Beach in Florida last week.
Animal experts said the dolphin was emaciated and in poor health. Biologists and bystanders worked to help the struggling animal, but wildlife officials decided to euthanase it onsite.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Research Institute said it would consider other factors, including underlying illness, disease and maternal separation, before determining a final cause of death.
"Samples collected during necropsy will be sent for analysis to help with this determination," it said.
"This finding highlights the need to reduce single-use plastic and to not release balloons into the environment."
A remote and uninhabited island wilderness in the South Pacific is literally a garbage dump and these photos prove it.
Such a young dolphin should have still been with its mother but somehow wound up far from its deep-water home, Florida Today reported.
The rough-toothed dolphin is found in deep oceanic waters throughout tropical and warmer temperate areas, but its worldwide population is unknown, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Conservationists are lobbying for action around the use and disposal of plastics as similar scenes are observed around the world.
In March, a starving juvenile whale died after ingesting 40 kilograms of plastic bags off the coast of the Philippines, while a sperm whale that ingested nearly 30 kilograms of trash was found dead in Spain the year prior.
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Environment Pollution
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Timex strike
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Protesters
3,000+ protesters
The Timex strike was a major industrial dispute which took place in Dundee, Scotland, in 1993. The dispute, which was notable for its level of picket-line violence, resulted in the closure of the Timex plant in the city after 47 years. [1][2]
By the 1980s the Timex Corporation had been a major employer in Dundee for four decades. From the early part of that decade the company attempted to streamline their operations in the city, due to difficulties in competing with the Far East. The facility had enjoyed a temporary reprieve in the early part of the decade due to Timex's contract with Sinclair Research to manufacture its personal computer products (principally the ZX81 and ZX Spectrum), which sold in huge numbers. However, Sinclair's computer business was bought out in 1986 by Amstrad, who ended the lucrative contract, and once again the factory fell upon bad times. This ultimately led to attempts to reduce wages and cut the size of the workforce. These attempts were resisted by the workers and their trade union. [1]
In early January 1993, there were proposed layoffs at the factory. A ballot for strike action came out at 92% in favour, while requests for negotiation and arbitration were ignored. On 29 January, the workers came out on strike. They offered to return to work on 17 February; however, they were told that there would be a cut of 10% across the board. When they refused to accept those conditions, they were locked out. Strikebreakers were brought in to replace the striking workers. [3]
On 28 August 1993, the factory shut, following six months of industrial unrest. The strike has been described as the last major strike in the UK, and has been the subject of a play[4] and an exhibition at the University of Dundee. [5] A collection of records relating to the strike is held by the university's Archive Services. [1]
This Scottish history-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. This article related to the politics of Scotland is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
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Strike
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Locust swarms plague southern Russia - CNN
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Locust plague devastating Russia 01:26
Story highlights
Swarms of locusts plague farmers in southern Russia
Local officials say locusts have destroyed at least 10% of region's crops
Russian news broadcasts are linking the plague to climate change
Moscow (CNN)
Millions of locusts have descended on farmlands in southern Russia, devouring entire fields of crops and causing officials to declare a state of emergency in the region.
A vast area of at least 800,000 hectares is currently being affected as the swarms of insects, each measuring about 8 centimeters long, annihilate fields of corn and other crops.
It's been more than 30 years since this part of southern Russia suffered such a dense plague of locusts, according to local officials.
Officials say at least 10% of crops have already been destroyed, and the locust feeding frenzy is far from over, threatening to devastate the livelihoods of local farmers.
Walking through what remains of his corn field in the Stavropol region, one farmer, Pyotr Stepanchenka, looks distraught.
"Look," he says to the camera, "there is nothing left of the corn. The locusts ate it all, from the leaves to the cobs."
On state television, Russian news broadcasts are linking the plague to climate change, connecting the phenomenon to recent flooding amid higher than average temperatures.
Officials from the Russian ministry of agriculture have declared a state of emergency, but appear helpless to prevent the destruction.
They say they are stepping up efforts to save the harvest by increasing crop-spraying flights.
But high summer temperatures, they say, are decreasing the effectiveness of the powerful pesticides they use.
Also, officials say the locust swarms are moving fast across southern Russia, sometimes too fast for the authorities to keep up, leaving a trail of destruction behind them.
"In Kalmikya, Astrakhan, Volgograd, and Dagestan, there is already no food left for the locusts, so they have moved on to other sources of food," says Tatiana Drishcheva of the Russia Agricultural Center, a government organization.
"They have wingspans of nearly 12 centimeters, like small sparrows," she added.
Some frustrated locals, facing ruin, have posted videos of themselves desperately trying to hold back the tide. But it all seems futile in the face of such an overwhelming Russian swarm.
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Insect Disaster
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Wealth Matters: The Black-White Wealth Gap Before and During the Pandemic
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The lack of wealth in many African-American households has left them especially vulnerable to the financial fallout from the coronavirus crisis; but the federal government has perhaps its best opportunity yet to fix these racial disparities. Advancing Racial Equity and Justice, Building an Economy for All, Economic Justice, Economy, Racial Equity and Justice, Racial Wealth Gap Director, Media Relations jcusick@americanprogress.org Manager, State and Local Government Affairs loduyeru@americanprogress.org Director, Government Affairs pgordon@americanprogress.org Director, Government Affairs mshepherd@americanprogress.org Huge wealth disparities between Black and white households in America existed long before the COVID-19 pandemic and have continued during the crisis. Data show that during the pandemic, Black households faced more financial emergencies with fewer economic resources, resulting in a widening gap in economic opportunity between Black and white households. This issue brief explores some of those data and discusses a variety of proposals to shrink the Black-white wealth gap. The Biden administration continues to propose bold, ambitious, and wide-ranging policies that would enable families to recover from this unique crisis as well as steer institutions and the economy in a more racially equitable direction. These measures are crucial to prevent the Black-white wealth gap from widening further. The Biden administration has taken the first, critical steps toward closing that gap: The recently enacted American Rescue Plan provided much needed financial relief to many struggling families, allowing them to build a small financial cushion for the ongoing recession. This financial relief was targeted at those struggling the most and particularly benefited Black households, as they have suffered disproportionately from the pandemic. Moreover, the legislation ensured that public sector jobs in state and local governments—which often provide a key pathway to middle-class economic security for Black workers—would return after steep losses during the pandemic. Enacting President Joe Biden’s proposed American Jobs Plan would help create much needed jobs with good, stable wages and benefits across the economy, an important next step to help reduce racial wealth disparities. Additional federal policies should provide targeted financial benefits to African Americans, for instance, by boosting funding for the Minority Business Development Agency, financing for and targeting of federal research and development dollars to Black inventors and innovators, coordinated efforts at the White House to use federal programs, and policies and hiring to combat widespread and persistent racial wealth inequality. In a matter of weeks, Black households, with little in the way of wealth or savings, were burdened with the severe financial demands that the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent recession placed on them. They were often faced with a choice that either exposed them to a virus with a disproportionate likelihood of severe complications compared with their white peers or lost them vital income at a time when unemployment was spiking to unprecedented levels and federal support was slow and infrequent.1 If people decided to stay home to protect their health and that of their families, they needed to rely in part on their savings to pay their bills. The data summaries below show that less access to savings not only made it more difficult for African Americans to weather unemployment and widespread health emergencies, it also meant that they could not support their children’s remote learning as schools closed buildings and went online, fund higher education plans when such plans were in greater demand, seek more stable and safer housing options, or maintain and grow their businesses to the same degree that white households could. At a time of greater financial need, African Americans had fewer resources to begin with. This left them especially vulnerable to the dual onslaught of a health and economic crisis. As the Great Recession showed, without an explicit long-term focus on racially equitable economic policies, the disparities that predate the crisis will persist or continue to grow. The federal government plays a crucial role in bringing the economy out of recessions and in addressing the economic inequities that exacerbate the fallout from these economic downturns in the first place.2 The Biden administration has started to implement policies to make it easier for Black households to build wealth at the same rate as white households; additional steps are both possible and necessary. Read the fact sheet To help tackle this challenge, the Center for American Progress’ National Advisory Council on Eliminating the Black-White Wealth Gap developed several proposals.3 The council included some of the country’s leading scholars on the Black-white wealth gap, who assisted CAP’s effort to identify novel, yet doable, policy steps to shrink and eventually eliminate this racial disparity. CAP’s work with the council provides useful policy lessons. Importantly, even if all such proposals were immediately enacted, a substantial wealth gap would remain, requiring additional measures. Moreover, it will take time, even with the implementation of these proposals, to shrink the Black-white wealth gap. Put differently, policymakers need to act quickly and decisively, in a targeted manner and for a long time, to eliminate the racial wealth gap. The benefits of such an effort are clear: Supporting wealth-building measures for communities of color, in particular, would give families the resilience for the inevitable economic shocks that the future will bring, while also boosting growth in ways that are tangible for workers in every sector of the economy. These measures could result in a shrinking wealth gap between Black and white households. By raising the wealth of African American households, U.S. society and economy would become more resilient; a fast-growing share of the population would be better prepared for future emergencies and have more resources available to shape its own future. More wealth for African Americans thus not only represents a step toward greater racial equality but also lays the foundation for stronger economic growth. For instance, Black households would have more opportunities to contribute their talents and skills to the economy, move to better jobs when such opportunities arise, encourage their children’s education, and maintain and grow their own businesses.4 President Biden’s focus on reducing racial inequities will thus pay long-term dividends in a number of ways. Enacting proposals, such as the ones from CAP, that target small-business development and research and development—and that would establish a federal policy infrastructure to combat persistent racial wealth inequities—is a key next step to substantially shrinking the Black-white wealth gap. The pandemic occurred against the backdrop of a massive Black-white wealth gap. Because households quickly needed to rely on their wealth when the pandemic hit in early 2020, the crisis also illustrated the importance of wealth for families’ financial security. Black households suffered more in the pandemic in large part because they needed more but had much less wealth than white households. Wealth, both as an emergency buffer and as a means to invest in people’s futures, became critically important. Millions of households, especially African American and Latino households, faced unemployment and multiple health emergencies more or less from one day to the next. Yet many of these same households had few or no emergency savings to fall back on during this time. When people lost their jobs, many needed to rely on emergency savings, leaving them with less financial security as the pandemic unfolded. For example, in 2020, 46.7 percent of unemployed white households could not come up with $400 in an emergency, while 65.2 percent of unemployed Black households lacked access to $400 in such situations.5 Many more white than Black households could use their savings during the pandemic to fill any financial gaps left by job losses and/or higher health care costs. This disparate reliance on savings to pay for current expenses reflects the highly unequal distribution of emergency savings by race.6 After all, households that had no or few emergency savings could not use them to help pay their bills after a job loss. While 45.9 percent of white households that saw a drop in job-related income used their savings to pay for current expenses, only 30.6 percent of Black households did so. (see Figure 1) Similarly, more white households than Black households—28.5 percent versus 18.8 percent—used their savings when they were out of work due to health reasons. When households actually needed to rely on their savings, fewer Black households than white households had the opportunity to do so, even though many more Black households experienced layoffs and health emergencies during this time. Figure 1 Even if they could not fall back on savings, Black households still needed to fill the gap in their finances left by job losses and higher health care costs. They often did so by borrowing more money.7 For example, 44.5 percent of white households that used savings to pay for expenses also borrowed on credit cards, and 16.1 percent borrowed from family and friends; this suggests that they did not have enough emergency savings. In comparison, many more Black households in this situation borrowed money, with 45.8 percent taking out loans and 28.5 percent borrowing from family and friends. Essentially, Black households substituted more debt for limited emergency savings, widening the wealth gap between typical Black and white families. Even when Black households used their savings to pay for expenses, they were more likely to experience financial hardships amid the pandemic. This suggests that Black families’ savings were often not enough to allow them to handle the many job, child care, and health care challenges that arose during the pandemic. African Americans that used their savings to pay for current expenses were more likely than white households to sometimes or often not have enough food, to not be current on their rent or mortgage, and to have difficulties paying all of their bills. (see Figure 2) For instance, 64.1 percent of African Americans who used their savings to pay for expenses had trouble paying all of their bills, and the same was true for only 49.2 percent of white households. (see Figure 2) Having savings to pay for expenses during emergencies was clearly not enough to avoid economic hardships for all households, but the chance of still experiencing such hardships was much higher for Black households than for white ones. Put differently, Americans generally have too few emergency savings, but this shortfall during the pandemic was much worse for Black households. Figure 2 The bottom line is accessing savings to fill the gap left by too little income among widespread economic emergencies is not enough to avoid economic hardship and future hardship as debt grows, especially among Black households. The racial wealth gap also manifests in disparities in long-term investments, and not just in differences in emergency savings and immediate financial insecurity; during the pandemic, Black households had less wealth and thus fewer opportunities to invest in education, homeownership, and business stability or to choose to retire amid a worsening labor market. Yet the pandemic was a time when families often needed to spend more money on education—for example, to support their children’s remote schooling or to pursue postsecondary education to boost their own earning potential in the face of a highly uncertain future in the labor market. During this time, many households also sought housing stability and explored new housing options to protect their health and that of their families. Moreover, many household members who owned their own business needed to access savings to keep their business running as they either were forced to shut down or saw demand for their goods and services drop amid customers’ health concerns. Inevitably, the labor market quickly worsened, often pushing older Black workers in particular out onto the unemployment line. While Black families often had greater needs to invest in education, housing, and businesses or to move into retirement, they had fewer resources to do so at the start of the pandemic. The result has been widening gaps in key long-term investments—such as education, housing, business ownership, and retirement—between Black and white households. For example, during remote schooling, Black households faced greater obstacles in helping support their children’s education. All households needed money to ensure that their children had reliable internet and regular access to the appropriate electronic devices available when schools moved to remote instruction. Yet Black households were less likely than white households to have savings and were more likely to exhaust those savings, as discussed above. This left them with less money to support their children’s education. For this reason, these households often ended up borrowing money from family and friends to pay for current expenses. Indeed, Black households were almost three times as likely as white households—22.4 percent versus 8.5 percent—to borrow from family and friends to pay for current expenses.8 This greater reliance on financial assistance from family and friends also correlates with less access to internet and device availability since Black households’ finances were stretched particularly thin. More than one-fourth of Black households—27.6 percent—that borrowed from family and friends did not have access to reliable internet services and electronic devices during remote schooling, from August 2020 to March 2021. In comparison, only 6.4 percent of white families who paid for expenses out of their current income lacked reliable internet and electronic device access, as did 11.2 percent of white households that used savings to pay for expenses. Since Black families had less money and greater financial needs during the pandemic, they were left with even less money to support their children’s education.9 These racial gaps in instructional resources can quickly translate into longer-term differences in educational achievement and thus contribute to persistent racial wealth disparities across generations. The data show a similar pattern related to postsecondary education plans—or certification and degree programs. Today, nearly two-thirds of jobs require some form of postsecondary education, yet among Black households that borrowed from family and friends, 43.9 percent canceled their postsecondary plans, and another 12.9 percent decided to take fewer classes.10 In comparison, 29.1 percent of white households that mainly used their income for expenses decided to cancel their postsecondary plans, and another 10.1 percent decided to take fewer classes. Again, less access to emergency savings often translates to more borrowing from friends and family, fewer future opportunities, and less economic mobility for Black households, compared with white households. The fortunes of Black and white homeowners also diverged during the pandemic. A much larger share of Black homeowners than white homeowners—17.6 percent versus 6.9 percent—fell behind on their mortgage from August 2020 to March 2021.11 Not surprisingly, then, homeownership among African Americans grew more slowly than it did for white households during the pandemic, despite historically low mortgage interest rates. The Black homeownership rate stood at 44.1 percent by the end of 2020, almost equal to the 44 percent rate at the end of 2019. In comparison, the white homeownership rate rose from 73.7 percent to 74.5 percent during the same time period. (see Figure 3) Simply put, Black households faced more obstacles to becoming and staying homeowners because they had less money to fall back on. Figure 3 Moreover, Black homeownership saw wild up-and-down swings throughout 2020. The Black homeownership rate quickly rose by three percentage points in early 2020, before falling by 2.9 percentage points. Meanwhile, the white homeownership rate grew initially by 2.3 percentage points, before declining by only 1.5 percentage points. (see Figure 3) In other words, homeownership was much more stable among white households than Black households during the pandemic. This greater housing instability for African Americans follows in part from less stable jobs, more debt relative to the value of houses, and fewer emergency savings outside of the house to pay for an emergency. In other words, economic emergencies such as layoffs or unexpected medical bills more quickly translated into housing instability and, possibly, the loss of a home for Black homeowners than for white homeowners.12 Finally, during the pandemic, older Black workers—those aged 60 and older—were more likely than their white counterparts to delay retirement after a job loss and dip into their emergency savings. For example, 8.6 percent of Black workers that experienced a pandemic-related job loss and used their savings for expenses decided not to apply or to delay applying for Social Security retirement benefits, compared with only 2.6 percent of white workers. (see Figure 4) Similarly, 7.1 percent of Black workers who lost their job and borrowed money from family and friends to pay for expenses delayed retirement, compared with only 1.5 percent of white workers. A similar pattern by race, albeit at smaller rates, exists among older workers who were out of work due to health reasons. As is often the case during a recession, older workers in 2020 retired or planned on retiring sooner than they had expected before the coronavirus-induced recession. However, older Black workers were less likely than their white counterparts to retire or plan on retiring early during the pandemic. For instance, 5.6 percent of older Black workers who lost their job and who borrowed money from family and friends decided to retire sooner than planned, compared with 12.9 percent of older white workers. (see Figure 4) Older Black workers were much more likely than older white workers to delay retirement and were less likely to retire early, instead relying on emergency financing. This suggests that relying on savings and borrowing also disproportionately depleted Black workers’ retirement savings and delayed their retirement plans. Figure 4 The larger short- and long-term financial vulnerabilities of Black households during the pandemic occurred in the context of a persistent and wide racial wealth gap.13 When the pandemic and recession started in early 2020, Black households had less wealth than white households but greater need for the safety that those resources provide. In 2019, Black households, on average, had 14.5 percent the wealth of the average white household, and the median wealth of Black households was 12.7 percent the median wealth of white households that year.14 The pandemic hit Black households harder than white households and likely further widened the wealth gap among a large share, if not most, of Black and white households. Further breakdowns of the data by different types of assets such as emergency savings, housing, business ownership, and retirement wealth underscore the large Black-white gaps in all of these areas. For one, other than with respect to liquid assets—such as checking accounts, savings accounts, and money market mutual funds—Black households were much less likely to own assets. For example, only 5.5 percent of African-Americans owned a stake in a private business, compared with 20.9 percent of white households. (see Table 1) Black households are also less likely to be homeowners, as already discussed; and only about half of all nonretired Black households with a respondent aged 25 years or older had a retirement account, compared with 70.9 percent of white households meeting this description (see Table 1). In fact, when it comes to simply owning a bank account, there are significant disparities. Black people were unbanked at a rate five times higher than that of their white peers before the pandemic, with less than half of all Black adults having the full suite of financial service associated with a bank account.15 Such a barrier makes it harder for Black households to build wealth at the same rate as white households. Table 1 Even when African Americans own such assets, they own much less of them. In 2019, Black households, on average, had one-fourth the liquid assets of white households: $12,952 compared with $50,301. (see Table 1) The gap at the median is even worse, as Black households had only $1,300 in liquid savings—the equivalent of 16.6 percent of white households’ median balance of $7,850. Therefore, Black households were typically much less prepared for the pandemic and the myriad financial emergencies it created, including layoffs, caregiving needs, and worsening health outcomes. Black households also had much smaller home equity, retirement account balances, and business values than white households. For example, African Americans had, on average, less than half the home equity of white households in 2019: $103,614 compared with $230,427. (see Table 1) Similarly, the average retirement account balances of Black households—$110,919—equaled 41.7 percent of the average balance of $266,030 for white households that year. The gap is especially large with respect to business equity, as the average worth of African Americans’ businesses, $372,739, equaled only 26.2 percent of the average value of white households’ businesses, or $1,421,025. For one, these differences in asset values laid the foundation for greater losses among many African Americans during the pandemic. Lower values of businesses and home equity often result from higher debt levels relative to the underlying assets. On average, mortgages accounted for 41.4 percent of Black homeowners’ house values in 2019, while they made up only 32.6 percent of white homeowners’ house values.16 A larger ratio of mortgages to home values also means that Black homeowners carried a larger debt burden into the pandemic. This fixed cost added to their financial stress when incomes quickly dropped, especially for Black workers, who were more likely to work in industries and occupations that were immediately affected by the coronavirus crisis.17 Moreover, fewer long-term assets meant that Black households had fewer choices in the labor market when jobs quickly disappeared. Older Black workers had fewer retirement assets and thus faced more pressure to remain in the labor market, even as they faced much higher unemployment rates than did their white counterparts. For instance, the unemployment rate for Black workers between the ages of 55 and 64 averaged 10.8 percent from March 2020 to June 2020, the first four months of the pandemic, and 9.1 percent from July 2020 to December 2020, up from 3.6 percent for all of 2019. In comparison, the unemployment rate for older white workers averaged 8.5 percent at the start of the pandemic and 5.9 percent during the second half of 2020.18 With less retirement wealth to fall back on, Black workers faced and will continue to face greater pressure to remain in the labor market, even at times when jobs are hard to come by. Just 100 days into the Biden administration, Americans began to see encouraging signs that he is prepared to lead the country out of the largest crisis of their lifetime in a way that will improve the lives of millions in both the short and long term. Moreover, the Biden administration has taken a number of steps that start to address the massive Black-white wealth gap in this country. Of course, much work remains to be done. This issue brief lays out several metrics related to household wealth inequality that show the disparities before and during this pandemic. Given the sheer size of the Black-white wealth gap, it will take a wide range of policy measures across an extended period of time to eliminate this disparity. Importantly, policy measures will need to provide direct targeted financial transfers to African Americans to overcome their inherent wealth disadvantages across generations. Black households are much less likely than white households to inherit money or receive large financial gifts from parents and grandparents; and when they do receive such intergenerational transfers, the amounts tend to be much smaller.19 Yet money transfers alone will not close the Black-white wealth gap.
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Financial Crisis
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Watch: Armand Duplantis breaks Sergey Bubka’s 26-year pole vault world record at Diamond League
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Duplantis, who already holds the world indoor record of 6.18m, bettered the mark of 6.14m achieved by Bubka in July 1994 in Italy.
Sep 18, 2020 · 10:17 am
Updated Sep 18, 2020 · 03:39 pm
Armand Duplantis after his historic performance on Thursday | AFP / Andreas Solaro
Pole vault star Armand Duplantis went past Ukrainian legend Sergey Bubka’s 26-year mark, setting a outdoor new pole vault world record of 6.15m at the Diamond League meeting in Rome on Thursday.
Duplantis, who already holds the world indoor record of 6.18m, bettered the mark of 6.14m achieved by Bubka in July 1994 in Italy.
The 20-year-old succeeded on his second attempt in a competition he dominated in perfect warm and windless conditions, but without spectators to celebrate in an empty Stadio Olimpico.
“I think I’m still up in the clouds right now,” said the US-born athlete. “It’s a surreal, super crazy feeling.”
Duplantis set the world record indoors in February, and had made the outdoor mark his goal with the Olympic Games and European championships postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“It was something I really wanted to do, there was a lot of confusion between the indoor and outdoor,” said Duplantis. “I thought ‘why not just do it?’ be the best outdoor, to clear up the confusion.”
Duplantis had cleared an earlier attempt but hit the bar on the way down. “It was a kind of mental thing. After that first attempt I knew what I had to do it so just went out and did it,” said Duplantis, who heads to the final Diamond League meet in Doha next week.
You can the watch record-breaking jump in the videos below:
Play
As the commentator notes, Duplantis cleared the mark with something to spare as you could see on the replays.
¡TREMENDO! Duplantis y la mejor marca histórica en salto al aire libre: ¡6.15 METROS! #AtletismoEnTyCSports pic.twitter.com/L5TjkM8Z0q
— TyC Sports (@TyCSports) September 17, 2020
Mondo Duplantis in the 2020 Diamond League:
5.86 - Oslo ??
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) September 18, 2020
After clearing 6.15 in Rome, @mondohoss600 has proven he is the best pole vaulter in history both indoors and out.
“I have both now so just the world record holder all around” pic.twitter.com/nilcqzijoD
— World Athletics (@WorldAthletics) September 17, 2020
Bonus viewing: Here’s the 6.18m world record jump from earlier this year
Play
Warholm misses record
But Norwegian Karsten Warholm missed out on the 400m hurdles world record, despite winning in a blistering 47.07 seconds.
Two-time world champion Warholm, the second fastest 400m hurdler in history, had been hoping to topple Kevin Young’s long-standing mark of 46.78sec which the American set at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
The 24-year-old outdistanced his rivals but had to settle for a meet record.
“Of course I’m satisfied, this is my third best time ever,” said Warholm, who left France’s Ludvy Vaillant a distant second at 48.69sec.
“This year I am getting a lot of MRs, my average time is getting really good. I am really satisfied at being at that level. It shows I am close to the world record.”
Warholm holds the second fastest time in history with the European record of 46.87 clocked in Stockholm last August, coming within 0.09 of Young’s 28-year mark. Warholm bettered his 47.08 from Berlin last week in the Italian capital.
In the women’s 100m, the 2016 double Olympic champion Elaine Thompson made a winning comeback in Europe. The Jamaican sprinter, who had not crossed the Atlantic since the outbreak of the pandemic, won in 10.85sec, best time of 2020.
“I leave here with a world leading time. I’m super excited this tells me where I am at the end of the season and how I can prepare for next year. This year required more adjusting. My goal was to push back and motivate myself. I am a double Olympic champion so I want to be at my top for next season.”
South African Akani Simbine won the men’s 100m in 9.96, ahead of the Ivorian Arthur Cisse 10.04. Andrew Pozzi won the men’s 110m hurdles in 13.15 with fellow Britain Jemma Reekie winning the women’s 800m.
Lieke Klaver of the Netherlands won the women’s 400m in a time of 50.98sec with countrywoman Femke Bol taking the 400m hurdles event in 53.90.
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Break historical records
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Ryan Crouser throws 76 feet, 8 1/4 inches, breaks 31-year-old shot put world record at U.S. trials
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Ryan Crouser throws 76 feet, 8 1/4 inches, breaks 31-year-old shot put world record at U.S. trials
EUGENE, Ore. -- The record was older than he is.
When Ryan Crouser broke it, "it felt like it was a huge weight lifted."
The 28-year-old who built a training ring at his home in Arkansas to stay on point during the coronavirus pandemic shattered a shot put world record Friday night that was set 2½ years before he was born.
On Day 1 of the U.S. Olympic Trials, he heaved the massive metal sphere 76 feet, 8¼ inches (23.37 meters) to put his name in the record book and punch his ticket for Tokyo, where he will have a chance to defend his Olympic title next month.
Just like he always imagined.
"There were so many times that I was throwing a six-pound shot out behind the middle school, throwing by myself, and let it go and put my hands over my head and be like, 'Oh, new world record!'" Crouser said. "I knew it's been a possibility or potential to do it since 2017."
Ryan Crouser broke the shot put world record set by American Randy Barnes, whose mark of 75 feet, 10 1/4 inches, set on May 20, 1990, was one of the oldest in the record books.
Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Virtually everyone in this tightly knit group of throwers knew the record of 75-10¼ (23.12) held by Randy Barnes since May 20, 1990, was in jeopardy. Earlier this year, Crouser topped Barnes' indoor record. Earlier Friday, during qualifying, Crouser heaved 75-2½ (22.92) to set the American Olympic trials record.
Crouser was feeling so good in the preliminary round that he thought a world record was possible right then and there. What kept him from going for it was his shoes. Though he had brought a new pair to Eugene for the trials, he opted for a more broken-in pair because the shot put ring at newly remodeled Hayward Field was "fast."
"But they take your shoes if you break the world record," Crouser said of World Athletics, which tests all shoes involved in a record. "I thought, 'I don't know, if I throw a world record in prelims, I won't have shoes for the final. I'll have to throw in the [new] Nikes.'"
So the record held -- but for only a few more hours.
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Even before the fourth of his six tries on a mild, sunshiny evening had plunked into the dirt, Crouser was lifting his arms to celebrate. When the shot landed, far beyond where any other mark had been made, a collective gasp came from the quarter-filled stands.
About a half-minute passed while officials checked the distance. When the mark came up on the board, confirming that he had broken one of the longest-standing records in the books, he was mobbed by his competitors near the ring.
"Finally timed that one up," said Crouser, who grew up in Oregon, went to college at Texas and now serves as a volunteer coach at Arkansas. "I think I was celebrating on that one almost before it left my hand."
Among those congratulating him were world champion Joe Kovacs, who finished second, and Payton Otterdahl, who earned the third spot.
"There are three or four guys capable of doing that," Kovacs said. "In Tokyo, there are going to be some fireworks. Every year we're talking about the records being broken, and I think there's more to come."
Several minutes after his record, Crouser was proudly posing on the field. The picture: Him standing next to the scoreboard with both thumbs raised and the words "World Record" highlighted in green on the board next to his new mark.
Shot putters fashion themselves as part-time physics gurus. They spend hours analyzing their throws from multiple angles, all in the hopes of eking out a few more centimeters.
About the dynamics of his best-ever throw, Crouser said: "I stayed big with my chest and relaxed and let the entry happen. I didn't force it. And once I did that well, I knew the throw was going to be good, so I didn't do anything to mess it up from there."
Crouser, who finished second to Kovacs at the world championships in Doha, Qatar, in 2019, didn't miss a day of training in 2020, even with the pandemic shutting things down across the globe. He built a homemade shot-putting ring that he constructed out of two sheets of plywood and screws from Home Depot.
The opening day of trials also featured strong first-round performances from world 800-meter champion Donavan Brazier and sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson, who chose orange as the hair color of the day and turned in the fastest 100-meter time (10.84 seconds). High jumper Vashti Cunningham -- the daughter of former NFL quarterback Randall Cunningham -- easily qualified for the final, and discus thrower Valarie Allman set a meet record with her throw of 229-8 (70.01) in qualifying.
In the night's other final, Woody Kincaid sprinted the final stretch to hold off Grant Fisher and win the 10,000 meters in 27:53.62. Both run for the Bowerman Track Club. Joe Klecker was third.
All received second billing to Crouser, who is hard to miss at a track meet. The 320-pounder takes down about 5,000 calories per day to keep weight on his 6-foot-7 frame. His diet consists of two big breakfast burritos in the morning, a pound of ground beef for lunch and three of the four portions from a meal delivery service at night.
So what does a newly minted world-record holder do for dinner? Well, options figured to be limited at the late hour he would get out of the track.
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Break historical records
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One Boater Dies, One Injured in Crash Offshore from Ocean City
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A boat collision offshore from the coast of Ocean City Friday morning has left one boater dead and another one with a minor head injury. A total of four people were pulled from the water by a good Samaritan boat, according to the Coast Guard, and one of them was reportedly unconscious at the time of rescue. A Coast Guard spokesperson, Petty Officer Third Class Breanna Centeno, tells Bay Bulletin an EMT was on the water nearby when the two-boat crash happened 62 nautical miles offshore. Centeno says the EMT did CPR but the victim was still unresponsive. Centeno says the Coast Guard deployed an aircrew and a boat crew, but the good Samaritan boat brought all four victims back in from the water. Family identified Chris Ragni, Sr. as the victim of the boat crash. Photo: Chris Ragni/Facebook According to the Ocean City Fire Department, the unresponsive victim was pronounced dead by paramedics about 25 miles off the shore of Ocean City. One male patient suffered a minor head injury and refused treatment. The three surviving rescued boaters were brought back to a local marina. The man who passed away has been identified as Captain Chris Ragni, Sr., well-known in the local offshore fishing community. His son, Chris Ragni, Jr., captain of the charter boat Bill Slayer out of Rehoboth Beach, announced his father’s death on Facebook. He posted, “My father Captain Chris F. Ragni passed away yesterday after a tragic boating accident while he was fishing with his buddies. He passed away while doing what he loved to do, surrounded by friends.” He thanked the assisting boats at the scene, including the crew of the Leslie Ann and the Regulator. The Coast Guard is investigating the crash and its cause, and the agency isn’t releasing many details. Centeno does say one of the boats involved in the crash sank. Ragni, Jr. wrote, ” The accident is under investigation. The truth will come out and I will let everyone know what happened when it does.” A fellow charter captain set up a gofundme page to support the family, calling Ragni Sr. “a local fishing legend”. As of Wednesday morning, the fundraiser had nearly doubled its goal of $10,000.
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Shipwreck
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U.S. Announces Its Withdrawal From U.N. Human Rights Council
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U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaks Tuesday at the Department of State in Washington, D.C. Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, speaks Tuesday at the Department of State in Washington, D.C. Updated at 6:15 p.m. ET After more than a year of complaints and warnings — some subtle and others a little less so — the Trump administration has announced that the United States is withdrawing from the United Nations Human Rights Council. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador to the U.N. Nikki Haley announced the decision in a joint statement Tuesday. "I want to make it crystal clear that this step is not a retreat from human rights commitments," Haley told the media. "On the contrary, we take this step because our commitment does not allow us to remain a part of a hypocritical and self-serving organization that makes a mockery of human rights." The move comes as little surprise from an administration that frequently has lambasted the 47-member body for a gamut of perceived failures — particularly the dubious rights records of many of its member countries, as well as what Haley has repeatedly called the council's "chronic bias against Israel." Haley harked back to a speech she delivered to the council one year ago this month, in which she laid down something of an ultimatum. At that point, she told members that they must stop singling out Israel for condemnation and must clean up their roster — which includes Venezuela, China and Saudi Arabia, among others — or the council could bid the U.S. farewell. In remarks to the Graduate Institute of Geneva, given the same day as her council speech, Haley made the matter plain. "If the Human Rights Council is going to be an organization we entrust to protect and promote human rights, it must change," she said. "If it fails to change, then we must pursue the advancement of human rights outside of the council." In the year that has elapsed since those speeches, such reforms never happened. Instead, she said, the council stayed silent on violent repression in Venezuela, a member state, and welcomed another country with a problematic record of its own, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. "The council ceases to be worthy of its name," Haley said, explaining the U.S. withdrawal. "Such a council in fact damages the cause of human rights." "Human Rights Council members shall uphold the highest standards in the promotion of human rights." Trump's diplomatic team is not the first within the U.S. to voice such criticism. When the council was first established in 2006, the administration of George W. Bush withheld its membership over similar concerns. And when the Obama administration announced in 2009 that it would reverse course and seek membership, the U.S. ambassador to the U.N. at the time, Susan Rice, said the decision was made out of a belief "that working from within, we can make the council a more effective forum to promote and protect human rights." Several U.S. critics, in condemning the decision Tuesday, echoed precisely this desire for reform as a principal reason to stay in the council, not leave it. "The UN Human Rights Council has always been a problem. Instead of focusing on real human-rights issues, the council has used its time and resources to bully Israel and question Israel's legitimacy as a sovereign state," Rep. Eliot Engel, the ranking Democratic member of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, said in a statement Tuesday. "But the way to deal with this challenge is to remain engaged and work with partners to push for change. "By withdrawing from the council, we lose our leverage and allow the council's bad actors to follow their worst impulses unchecked — including running roughshod over Israel." Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, said the U.S. focus on Israel's treatment has actually caused American officials to lose sight of the good work the council has done elsewhere. "The U.N. Human Rights Council has played an important role in such countries as North Korea, Syria, Myanmar and South Sudan, but all Trump seems to care about is defending Israel," Roth said in a statement to NPR. "Like last time when the U.S. government stepped away from the Council for similar reasons, other governments will have to redouble their efforts to ensure the Council addresses the world's most serious human rights problems." The United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, seen earlier this year during a presentation on the conflict in Syria. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador Nikki Haley announced that the U.S. will be withdrawing from the council. Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images The United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, seen earlier this year during a presentation on the conflict in Syria. On Tuesday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Ambassador Nikki Haley announced that the U.S. will be withdrawing from the council. And Richard Gowan, a fellow at New York University's Center on International Cooperation, told NPR's Michele Kelemen that there is another potential issue muddying the waters of this decision: the recent condemnations leveled at the Trump administration's immigration policies by international human-rights officials. In a span of less than two months, U.S. officials have separated some 2,300 children from their parents after they crossed the border into the U.S., according to the Department of Homeland Security. And the administration's policy has attracted a sharp rebuke from the U.N. high commissioner on human rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein. "The thought that any State would seek to deter parents by inflicting such abuse on children is unconscionable," he said Monday, in comments opening the 38th session of the Human Rights Council. Hussein pointed to criticism from the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics, who referred to the border policy as "government-sanctioned child abuse." And the commissioner noted that the U.S. remains the sole U.N. member not to ratify the Convention of the Rights of the Child, a landmark agreement passed nearly three decades ago. "I don't think [Tuesday's withdrawal] is linked to Prince Zeid's criticism of U.S. immigration policies," Gowan acknowledged, explaining that the high commissioner is technically separate from the council. But, Gowan added, "The timing looks just awful for Nikki Haley and Secretary Pompeo." Pompeo, however, said the matter is simple: The U.N. Human Rights Council is not capable of fulfilling its mission without reform — and those desired reforms remain unfulfilled. "The Human Rights Council has become an exercise in shameless hypocrisy, with many of the world's worst human-rights abuses going ignored and some of the world's most serious offenders sitting on the council itself," he said Tuesday. "The only thing worse than a council that does almost nothing to protect human rights is a council that covers for human-rights abuses — and is therefore an obstacle to progress and an impediment to change."
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Withdraw from an Organization
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Bank robber uses gopher as getaway vehicle
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Police say a 62-year-old man who allegedly robbed a Perth bank and used a gopher mobility scooter to make his escape did not get far before he was caught. Police allege the man entered Bankwest's Subiaco branch on Rokeby Road on Friday afternoon. They say he approached a female teller, demanding cash. The man allegedly tried to get away on a gopher, but police say they caught up with him three streets away on Hamersley Road a short time later. He has been charged with robbery and will appear in court later this month.
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Bank Robbery
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Lunar Eclipse 2021: Check Images of Super Blood Moon, Chandra Grahan from India, Around The World
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(Clockwise from top) Moon shines in New York, Bali, Tokyo, Rio de Janeiro and New Delhi. (Images: Reuters/PTI) People across the world saw the big supermoon event on Wednesday, May 26. The moon appeared blood red in some parts of the globe due to the total lunar eclipse. Lunar eclipses take place when Earth’s shadow blocks the light from the Sun. This leads to the Moon coming under Earth’s penumbra, resulting in a partial or full lunar eclipse. The May 26 event was a total lunar eclipse in which the moon reached the closest point in Earth’s orbit. Every year there are days when the Sun, Moon, and Earth align in a straight line that leads to lunar and solar eclipses. People also believe that an eclipse can have an impact on 12 zodiac signs along with the country and the world. In 2021, there will be four eclipses i.e. two lunar and two solar eclipses in India. There are going to be 4 eclipses in 2021 starting from May 26 – Total Lunar Eclipse, June 10 – Annual Solar Eclipse, November 19 – Partial Lunar Eclipse and December 4 – Total Solar Eclipse. The partial phase of the eclipse began on the afternoon of May 26 at 3:15 pm IST and ended at 6:23 pm IST. The total phase began at 4:39 pm IST and ended at 4:58 pm IST. It was visible from parts of northeastern states, parts of West Bengal, some coastal parts of Odisha and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. According to Hindu beliefs, people avoid using sharp objects during the eclipse and even observe fast. There is also a sutak period which is a time before the lunar eclipse when any kind of auspicious work is stopped. It begins nine hours before the eclipse starts and concludes with the eclipse. Horoscope Today, May 26: Check out Daily Astrological Prediction for Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio and Other Signs Lunar Eclipse 2021: These Cities Will be Able to View Chandra Grahan 2021; Check Timings, Other Details A supermoon occurs when a full or new moon coincides with the Moon’s closest approach to the Earth. The Moon’s orbit around Earth is not perfectly circular. This means the Moon’s distance from Earth varies as it goes around the planet. The closest point in the orbit, called the perigee, is roughly 28,000 miles closer to Earth than the farthest point of the orbit. A full moon that happens near the perigee is called a supermoon. The relatively close proximity of the Moon makes it seem a little bit bigger and brighter than usual, though the difference between a supermoon and a normal moon is usually hard to notice unless you’re looking at two pictures side by side. A lunar eclipse happens when the Earth’s shadow covers all or part of the Moon. This can only happen during a full moon, so first, it helps to understand what makes a full moon. Like the Earth, half of the Moon is illuminated by the sun at any one time. A full moon happens when the Moon and the Sun are on opposite sides of the Earth. This allows you see the entire lit-up side, which looks like a round disc in the night sky. If the Moon had a totally flat orbit, every full moon would be a lunar eclipse. But the Moon’s orbit is tilted by about 5 degrees relative to Earth’s orbit. So, most of the time a full moon ends up a little above or below the shadow cast by the Earth. But twice in each lunar orbit, the Moon is on the same horizontal plane as both the Earth and Sun. If this corresponds to a full moon, the Sun, the Earth and the Moon will form a straight line and the Moon will pass through the Earth’s shadow. This results in a total lunar eclipse. When the Moon is completely covered by Earth’s shadow it will darken, but doesn’t go completely black. Instead, it takes on a red color, which is why total lunar eclipses are sometimes called red or blood moons. Sunlight contains all colours of visible light. The particles of gas that make up Earth’s atmosphere are more likely to scatter blue wavelengths of light while redder wavelengths pass through. This is called Rayleigh scattering, and it’s why the sky is blue and sunrises and sunsets are often red. In the case of a lunar eclipse, red light can pass through the Earth’s atmosphere and is refracted or bent toward the Moon, while blue light is filtered out. This leaves the moon with a pale reddish hue during an eclipse. The moon put on a show for many parts of the world on Wednesday, as the first total lunar eclipse in more than two years coincided with a supermoon. The blazing orange moon dazzled as it hung over the skies of the Pacific as well as the western half of North America, parts of South America and eastern Asia. The reddish-orange color of the super blood moon is the result of all the sunrises and sunsets in Earths atmosphere projected onto the surface of the eclipsed moon. More lunar shows are coming. On November 19, there will be a nearly total eclipse where the moon dims but doesn’t turn red. The next total lunar eclipse will be in May 2022. The last one was in January 2019. (PTI) MOON OVER MUMBAI SKIES FULL MOON IN DELHI SKIES SUPER BLOOD MOON RISES IN MEXICO SUPERMOON ECLIPSE IS UNDERWAY: CLICK HERE TO SEE IT LIVE THE ILLUMINATED TOKYO SKYTREE & THE SUPERMOON THE MOONRISE IN MEXICO SUPER BLOOD MOON IN BALI SUPER FLOWER MOON OVER ANKARA SKIES Drop super moon pictures from wherever you are.This one’s from Mokochung, Nagaland, shot by our friend Kima Walling.#IndiaTrail #supermoon #supermoon2021 #Mokokchung #Nagaland pic.twitter.com/a0ZVbsdHU7 — India Trail (@theindiatrail) May 26, 2021 The moon looks incredible.#LunarEclipse2021 pic.twitter.com/B3iohgKtzU— scott budman (@scottbudman) May 26, 2021 A VIEW FROM BEIJING SUPER BLOOD MOON RISES OVER THE PLAOSAN TEMPLE What makes a "supermoon" different from other full Moons? Compare side-by-side and learn more here: https://t.co/cxZEdHDbao pic.twitter.com/CijIYz4h57— NASA Moon (@NASAMoon) May 25, 2021 The year’s biggest full moon, known as the Super Flower Moon, rose in a clear evening sky over the Sydney Opera House on Wednesday to the delight of amateur photographers positioned just across the water to capture the moment. The moon was at the closest point to Earth in its orbit, making it appear about 7% larger and 15% brighter than normal. The May full moon is known as the Flower Moon as it occurs when spring flowers are in bloom. Earth’s shadow crept across the moon on Wednesday night as people in New Zealand and around the world waited for a cosmic event known as a super blood moon. As the eclipse deepened, it appeared as though half the moon had vanished. The other half looked fuzzy in the center with a bright outer edge, the last remnants of the glittering orb that had earlier risen above the horizon. The eclipse began as the moon edged into the Earth’s outer shadow, called the penumbra. The full eclipse was due to take place between 11:11 p.m. and 11:25 p.m in Wellington . LATEST PHOTOS FROM AROUND THE WORLD It will be visible from parts of northeastern states, parts of West Bengal, some coastal parts of Odisha and Andaman & Nicobar Islands. Of the metropolitan cities, those in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai will not be able to see it, but those in Kolkata will be able to see super blood moon. LIVE: Biggest Supermoon of the year followed by partial lunar eclipse adorns Buenos Aires sky https://t.co/CBvCoVKhT0— China Xinhua News (@XHNews) May 26, 2021 According to science, lunar eclipses are safe to watch directly through eyes. Therefore, one does not need to take care of any special precautions to witness a Chandra Grahan. However, Indian mythology defines various dos and don’ts during the Chandra Grahan. It is said that one should chant holy mantras like the Mahamrityunjay mantra. This decreases the harmful impact of negative energy caused by the eclipse. Some other dos include adding a basil (tulsi) leaf to the food items, and donation and charity to the needy. On the contrary, one should not consume raw food during the grahan.In India, popular traditions also advise to not step out during the grahan it may radiate harmful rays. Astrophysicist, disaster management experts and Calenderologist are expressing concern full moon and lunar eclipse may aggravate Cyclone Yaas intensity. As it is known that during a full moon, the sun, earth and the moon come in a straight line and it causes heavy gravitational effects on our planet. This gravitational effect usually causes a swell in the ocean/ rivers and causes abnormal high tidal waves (than normal days). Now the experts fear that if the timing of landfall ‘Yaas’ clashes with the timings of the full moon and lunar eclipse then it will trigger the tidal waves and devastation will be much higher. In astrology, lunar eclipse has some deep impact on our zodiac signs. The cosmic event activates the lunar nodes in our birth charts, as the moon glides across an elliptical that is constantly rotating around the zodiac. The highest and lowest points of this orbit correspond with the lunar nodes that appear in our birth charts as south and north nodes. These two nodes, also referred to as the Nodes of Fate, symbolize our past and future. Click here to check how it will affect your zodiac sign: Lunar Eclipse 2021 in India: Here’s How Chandra Grahan 2021 will Affect Your Zodiac Sign The total lunar eclipse won’t be visible from all parts of the world. However, these people can take to the internet to watch the live stream of the supermoon event. 1) Griffith Observatory: The Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, US has scheduled a live stream on YouTube beginning at 2:15 pm IST on Wednesday. The observatory will not hold public or in-person events like the earlier times due to Covid-19 pandemic. 2) The Virtual Telescope Project, based in Italy, will broadcast not one but two live streams. The online observatory, founded by astrophysicist Gianluca Masi, will first stream the lunar eclipse at 3:30 pm IST while the supermoon will be broadcast later in the night. 3) Lowell Observatory, also known as the Home of Pluto since the planet was discovered at the facility in 1930, has also scheduled a live stream on Youtube for 3:00 pm IST on May 26. Multiple telescopes at the facility in Arizona, US will allow skywatchers to get a glimpse of the supermoon from the comfort of their homes.
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New wonders in nature
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2000 Zion mid-air collision crash
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On February 8, 2000, a Zlin 242L light aircraft piloted by Chicago radio personality Bob Collins was involved in a mid-air collision with a Cessna 172P over Zion, Illinois while both aircraft were on approach to land at the nearby Waukegan National Airport. The Zlin dived and crashed through the roof of a five-story medical building. The Cessna spiraled down and crashed onto a residential street three blocks away. [1] All three people on board both aircraft were killed and five people on the ground were injured. [2]
The crash was instrumental in effecting changes at Waukegan National Airport and on March 24, 2000 the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced that the control tower would receive a Terminal Automated Radar Display and Information System. [1]
The Zlin 242L is a low wing two seat acrobatic aircraft. The accident aircraft, serial number 0695 and registered N5ZA, was co-owned and operated by Chicago radio disc jockey Bob Collins and Daniel Bitton and was issued its Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Certificate on February 4, 1999. At its last annual inspection on November 3, 1999 the total airframe time was 96.4 hours, and the recording tachometer read 38.3 hours. [1]
Collins was 57 years old; held a valid private pilot certificate with a single-engine land airplane rating since 1995; and had accumulated 1,200 total flight hours. [2]
The Cessna 172P is a high wing four seat civil utility aircraft. The accident aircraft was registered N99063; its FAA Certificate issue date was August 31, 1988 and the aircraft passed a 100-hour inspection on 10 January 2000 when it had a total airframe time of 12,099.6 hours. [1]
Sharon Hock, a 31-year-old student pilot, made her first solo flight on 14 January 2000 and had accumulated a total of 36 flight hours with one hour as PIC, all in Cessna 172s. [1]
Both aircraft were operating under Federal Aviation Regulation Part 91 without flight plans during Visual flight rules (VFR) conditions. At the time of the accident, visibility was 10 miles (16 km) with a temperature of 33 degrees Fahrenheit (1 °C) and the wind 220 degrees at 17 knots (20 mph; 31 km/h). [1]
N5ZA's cross-country flight departed Sheboygan County Memorial Airport on February 8, 2000 at 14:00 en route to Waukegan National Airport 93 miles to the south. Collins was operating the aircraft from the left seat as pilot in command (PIC) and his pilot-rated friend Herman Luscher occupied the right seat. [1]
Sharon Hock was flying N99063 solo and was practicing her take-offs and landings at Waukegan National Airport using runway 23 in a right hand traffic pattern. At 14:57 Hock was preparing to take-off for what would have been her twelfth and final circuit. She then was to pick up her instructor Scott Chomicz and fly back to Palwaukee, where the airplane was based. [2]
At 14:57:42 Hock was holding her Cessna short of runway 23 waiting for departure clearance and the Zlin was approximately 11 miles from the approach end of the runway. Veteran air traffic controller, Greg Fowler age 54, was on duty in the airport's control tower as the Local Controller. [1]
N5ZA position 1.4 miles northeast of the shoreline, 5.3 miles from the approach end of runway 23. At this point the Local Controller lost sight of N99063 about 1.5 miles northeast of the airport and could not yet see N5ZA due to hazy weather conditions near Lake Michigan. [1]
N99063 turned to base leg and shortly afterward turned on to final just in front of N5ZA. It is likely that, because her Cessna was below the Zlin, its high wing blocked Hock's view of the Zlin's position. [2] When interviewed by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) later, the Local Controller stated that his timing to request N99063 to turn was based on his estimate of the elapsed time between losing sight of N99063 and Collins' radio report that N5ZA had crossed the shoreline. [1]
At this point another Cessna 172P, tail number N52048, was on the downwind leg of the left traffic pattern for runway 23 and reported seeing N99063. [1]
approach end of runway 23. The Local Controller believed the landing sequence was N5ZA first, followed by N99063 and finally N52048 but later stated at this point, "something started to click [that] something was wrong", and he used binoculars to try to spot the aircraft. The LC stated that he saw N5ZA at this time but that he did not see N99063. [1]
When Collins reported "we have the traffic in sight" he had spotted the Cessna N52048 off to his left. It is likely that, because he was above Hock's aircraft, he never saw N99063 due to the blind spot created by the Zlin's right wing. [2]
At 15:04 the Zlin and Cessna 172P N99063 collided approximately 650 feet above ground level (AGL), 2 miles from the approach end of runway 23 while both aircraft were on final approach. At the time of impact the Zlin's airspeed was significantly higher; it struck the Cessna from above with its propeller chopping off most of the Cessna's left flap and its right wing striking the Cessna's tail. Immediately after the collision the Cessna began spiraling down; clipping a tree it initially hit the ground in a nursing home parking lot, hit two parked cars and skidded to rest in the middle of Elim Avenue. The Zlin continued level flight for a moment then nose dived into the roof of a hospital creating a hole of approximately 45 square feet. Leaking fuel exploded 45 seconds later, blowing out windows and starting an extensive fire on the fifth floor of the hospital. [1] Five hospital employees were injured and later the hospital's insurance carrier claimed $32 million in damage. [2]
The NTSB released its report on May 3, 2001. The NTSB investigation determined that the probable cause of the accident was "the pilot's [Collins] failure to maintain clearance from the other airplane. Factors relating to the accident were the pilot's poor visual lookout, and the airport control tower local controller's failure to provide effective sequencing. "[1] The NTSB did not fault Sharon Hock. [1]
In a letter to the FAA the NTSB stated “Because [the local controller Fowler] did not see the airplanes, his erroneous estimate of [Hock’s] progress since losing visual contact and the pilots’ imprecise position reports were the only information that he had with which to judge the proper sequence of the airplanes. His initial decision to sequence [Collins] first was apparently based on his incorrect belief that [Collins] was closer to the airport than he actually was. Subsequent communications between [Fowler] and [Collins] confirm that the airplane was not nearing the runway as quickly as the sequencing plan would require; however, [Fowler] did not amend the sequence.”[1]
The NTSB also said that the crash could have been prevented if a radar display system had been in place at Waukegan National Airport. With no radar the Local Controller could only rely on what he could see from the control tower and what information he gathered in radio communications with the pilots to provide proper sequencing. [1]
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Air crash
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Reading: Natural gas explosion
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“Terrible Racist” Reports Exile Hall of Fame | States and Regions Natural gas exploded before a fire that burned down an apartment on the second floor of Reading on Tuesday afternoon, injuring three people, including a woman who was severely burned, said Marshal Reading Jeremy Surfos on Wednesday. Told to.
“Based on everything we’ve seen, we believe that natural gas has accumulated from building leaks,” Searfoss said of the explosion and fire at 225 N. 10th St.
The source of the fire is unknown, but there may have been a number of electronics in the rear apartment on the second floor, and investigators found evidence of the explosion and blew the walls south, destabilizing the entire building structurally. I said I did.
When the fire was reported around 2:45 pm, the only resident of the apartment was sleeping in her bedroom, Searfoss said. She woke up, found debris on her, and set fire all around her.
“It’s an absolute miracle that she managed to get out and wait for our men,” said the fire chief.
The woman was initially treated by a medical staff at the Reading Fire Department before being transferred to the Burn Treatment Center at Lehigh Valley Hospital near Allentown.
Searfoss said he had burns on his hands, feet and back.
“She is definitely lucky to be alive,” he said. “But she certainly has a way to recovery before her.”
He did not provide her name and no information about her age was immediately available.
According to Surfos, the pressure from the accumulation of gas was evidenced by the blow-off of Birco’s door to the basement, and firefighters had to move off the stairs when first entering the ground floor.
Firefighters also reported a strong odor of natural gas. This is actually a chemical that is added to natural gas to give it the smell of rotten eggs.
The two residents of the first-floor apartment they were visiting did not suffer head and neck burns and were taken to Reading Hospital for treatment by an ambulance crew.
Searfoss said investigators believe that the source of the gas is a leak pipe that feeds the cooking stove. They don’t know if the accumulation is slow or rapid. No one in the building reported the smell of natural gas.
The building has been blamed and may not be rescued, Searfoss said.
The American Red Cross supports two of the three tenants in three apartments with emergency housing and other needs.
The firefighter controlled the fire within 20 minutes.
Searfoss said the fire in the middle of the row of houses was contained in one building because of the aggression of the city’s firefighters. Beginning with the explosion, the fire spread rapidly before the crew arrived, restricting access by debris next to the building.
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Gas explosion
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Fish and waterways near Gold Coast Airport being tested for toxic run-off
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Seafood sampling has begun to determine how far toxic chemicals have spread from Gold Coast Airport into the surrounding environment.
The decision to begin testing today came after low levels of a once-used firefighting foam were found in soil and groundwater near the Coolangatta airport's boundary last year.
Fish and sediment samples are being collected this week from Cobaki Lakes, which is adjacent to the airport and south of the New South Wales border.
The testing was commissioned by Airservices Australia (AA), the government body that runs firefighting services at the airport.
AA said the project would examine a total of five sediment samples, five surface water samples and collection of six seafood species. "The project is focused on examining if there is any potential historical per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contamination affecting local seafood species," an AA statement said.
"The aim is to better understand if there is any impact which could be attributed to the historical use of PFAS containing firefighting foam."
The chemicals have contaminated Air Force bases at Oakey in south-east Queensland and Williamtown near the New South Wales city of Newcastle.
Member for Tweed Geoff Provest said he had eaten fish from the affected area and potential contamination was a concern.
"It's not a panic stage at the moment. We just need to push hard and get these results and see what is actually there," he said.
"There's some pretty pristine mud flats, mangroves, swamps. It is a fish breeding ground for a lot of the Tweed River and it is quite popular with fishermen. "There are some pretty good mud crabs and different species that can be obtained in that area … sea mullet, sand mullets, mud crabs and also the Sydney rock oyster."
Consulting firm GHD is overseeing the testing, along with the NSW environment department, with results expected in March.
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Environment Pollution
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Top scientist referred to corruption watchdog over alleged research misconduct
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One of Australia’s leading cancer scientists, who secured almost $40 million in taxpayer-funded research grants, has been referred to Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission by his institute over allegations of research misconduct.
The Brisbane-based QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute confirmed to The Age and Sydney Morning Herald on Monday it had referred Mark Smyth, until recently the institute’s head of immunology in cancer, to the commission following an external investigation into complaints about his research conduct.
Professor Mark Smyth, the former head of immunology in cancer at the QIMR Berghofer institute.
The external investigation, headed by retired Appeal Court judge Robert Gotterson, found Professor Smyth had seriously breached codes of responsible research, the institute said in a statement. The findings of the investigation were referred to the Crime and Corruption Commission, it said.
The institute declined to detail the specific allegations made as the matter is now before the commission, but The Age understands they centre on data manipulation.
Professor Smyth could not be reached for comment.
A second independent review, to be headed by Bruce Lander, South Australia’s former Independent Commissioner Against Corruption, had also been commissioned into what the institute called a “broad range of issues” arising from the initial investigation, the institute said.
Professor Smyth is one of Australia’s foremost scientists and has received millions of dollars in government and commercial funding. The investigation is likely to have wide-ranging fallout across the research sector.
He is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, which lists him as the “the most highly cited immunologist in Australia” whose “research has helped pave the way for effective immunotherapy of cancer, beginning with immune checkpoint inhibitor drugs”.
He had been awarded government research grants worth a total of $38.2 million as chief investigator, the National Health and Medical Research Council said.
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The council confirmed it was considering taking action to recover the grant funds.
Professor Smyth is listed as a reviewing editor at Science, one of the world’s top scientific journals, and an honorary professor at the University of Queensland.
He was head of immunology at QIMR until recently. The institute said on Thursday he was now a former employee. He formerly headed the Cancer Immunology Program at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Victoria.
In 2006, a paper in Nature Immunology he co-authored was retracted because it contained “several errors, including duplications … and incorrect reporting of … values that in some cases weakens the statistical significance”.
In 2015, a paper Professor Smyth co-authored in the Journal of Clinical Investigation had a correction notice attached because it also contained several duplications and errors.
In a statement, QIMR director and chief executive Fabienne Mackay said: “QIMR Berghofer is introducing a new robust research integrity framework under which all staff will be expected to operate, in consultation with leading research integrity experts.
“Our researchers and community deserve only the highest standards, and that is what we are going to deliver.”
Professor David Vaux, former deputy director of science, integrity and ethics at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, said the case further reinforced the need for an office for research integrity in Australia.
“QIMR deserves kudos for handling this rigorously and properly,” he said. “Generally, things like this are swept under the rug in Australia because here, research integrity is self-regulated, which means conflicts of interest inevitably arise as people investigate their own colleagues.
“Twenty-three European countries, the US, Canada, Japan and China have national offices to handle research integrity. Australia is being left behind.”
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Famous Person - Commit Crime - Investigate
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1949 Calvary Cemetery strike
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The 1949 Calvary Cemetery strike was a labor strike involving gravediggers and other workers at the Calvary Cemetery in Queens, New York City. The strike began on January 13 and ended on March 12,
The strike began on January 13 after labor negotiations between the trustees of St. Patrick's Cathedral (the administrators of the cemetery, which was owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York) and members of the United Cemetery Workers Union Local 293 reached an impasse. The union had been pushing for a reduction in their workweek from 48 hours Monday through Saturday to 40 hours Monday through Friday at the same weekly pay, which the trustees countered with slight pay increases and no changes in hours. As a result, about 250 workers at Calvary went on strike, garnering support from left-leaning Catholic groups and activists including the Association of Catholic Trade Unionists, the Catholic Worker newspaper, and activists John C. Cort, Dorothy Day, and Peter Maurin. However, church officials took a hardline stance against the union, and this was especially true of the noted anti-communist Cardinal Francis Spellman, then-archbishop of the archdiocese. Spellman attempted to break the strike by employing redbaiting tactics against the local union's parent union, the Congress of Industrial Organizations-affiliated Food, Tobacco, Agricultural, and Allied Workers. In late February, Spellman offered the strikers an 8% raise if they returned to work without union affiliation, but the strikers rejected this offer. With important Catholic events approaching, on March 2, Spellman brought in 100 students from St. Joseph's Seminary to act as strikebreakers. Shortly thereafter, the strikers changed their union affiliation to an American Federation of Labor-affiliated union and agreed to return to work on March 12. In the end, the strikers received an 8.3% wage increase, though without a change to their schedules. Calvary Cemetery is a large cemetery located in the Queens borough of New York City. By 1949, the cemetery (owned by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of New York and administered by the trustees of St. Patrick's Cathedral in Manhattan) was one of the largest Roman Catholic cemeteries in the United States. [1] By that time, the cemetery covered several hundred acres[note 1] and had almost 2 million interments, with approximately 10,000 additional burials per year. [2] Cardinal Francis Spellman was the archbishop of the archdiocese and presided over the trustees of St. Patrick's,[3] having risen to that position in 1939 and being made cardinal in 1946. [4] As both a cardinal and archbishop, he was considered the most powerful and well-known prelate of the Catholic Church in the United States. [3][5] In 1946, with Spellman's blessing, workers at Calvary Cemetery unionized with Local 293 of the United Cemetery Workers Union (UCW). [note 2] This union was affiliated with the Food, Tobacco, Agricultural, and Allied Workers (FTA) of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO), a leftist national union. [3] Almost all of the Local 293 members were Catholics. [1][6]
Throughout 1948, relations between the workers and their employers deteriorated,[2] and on December 27 of that year, union representatives submitted a proposal to management for changes in working conditions. [7] Of primary concern, the union was seeking a reduction in their workweek from 48 hours to 40 hours, with 8-hour shifts Monday through Friday. Additionally, they were seeking an increase in hourly pay so that they would still be receiving the same weekly pay of $59.40. [1] Additionally, workers would receive overtime and time-and-a-half pay for Saturday work. [2] The St. Patrick's trustees, taking a hardline stance against the union from the beginning of discussions,[8] countered that Saturday work was necessitated by the numerous weekend funeral services and instead offered the workers a 2.6% cost of living adjustment. [2] Church and union officials met for two separate collective bargaining sessions, with the final held on January 10. During the last meeting, church representatives Monsignor George C. Ehardt and attorney Godfrey P. Schmidt made the union a final offer, after which they refused to entertain any further counteroffers from the union. [8] Additionally during negotiations, Spellman, a noted anti-communist, wrote front-page opinion pieces for almost every major newspaper in New York City about how the CIO was "a well-known Communist dominated union". [5] With both sides at an impasse, approximately 250 Local 293 workers composed of (chauffeurs, gardeners, gravediggers, and mechanics)[9] at Calvary went on strike on January 13, 1949. [10][11] This marked the first recorded instance of a labor strike conducted by Catholic laity against Catholic clergy. [5]
Starting on January 13, strikers began picketing outside of St. Patrick's Cathedral. [5] The day after the strike began, 35 burials at the cemetery were postponed on account of the strike. [11] Early on, the strike received the support of several leftist Catholic groups. The Association of Catholic Trade Unionists (ACTU) voiced their support of the strike in defiance of Spellman, who was a noted donator to that organization, and ACTU member and noted Christian socialist John C. Cort picketed with strikers. [12] As a result of their support of the strike, Spellman would later stop his annual $3,000 donation to the group. [13] In addition, the Catholic Worker newspaper, lead by activists Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, supported the strike, with the newspaper's headquarter building in the Lower East Side also housing a soup kitchen and lodging house for strikers in need. [14] In addition, the newspaper published articles that were supportive of the strike and Day wrote several times to Spellman arguing that the strikers were justified in their actions. [6]
While union officials requested third party government arbitration, Schmidt countered by offering to have three theologians from outside of the archdiocese arbitrate the strike under the question of "Is the present strike morally justified?" These offers were turned down by union officials, who argued that the strike was due to economic rather than theological or moral issues. On January 21, Ehardt sent a letter to the strikers arguing that union officials were to blame for the strike and threatened the strikers with possible job replacement. [8] However, by mid-February, the strike was continuing and over 1,000 dead bodies were being stored in temporary vaults at Calvary Cemetery. [15] In addition, strike action had spread to 47 Local 293 gravediggers at the Gate of Heaven Cemetery in Hawthorne, New York, which was also owned by the archdiocese. [16] With important Catholic events such as the city's St. Patrick's Day parade and the Easter season approaching, Spellman took on a more active role in trying to end the strike. Starting on February 18, Spellman tried to appeal to the workers to return to work as individuals, without the union, and on February 28, at a meeting of union members he had called for, he stated that the workers would receive an 8% salary increase if they returned to work by noon of the following day without union membership. However, the union members rejected the offer. At the same time, Spellman attempted to hurt public support for the strike by employing red-baiting, criticizing the CIO as a "Communist-affiliated" union. Additionally, church officials began seeking an injunction from the New York Supreme Court against the strikers. [15]
On March 2, union officials informed Spellman that they would not return to work except as continued members of their current union, affiliated with the FTA,[9] as union members earlier that day had voted 183 to 0 against quitting their membership in that union. [17] As a result, in the early morning of March 3, Spellman brought 100 students from St. Joseph's Seminary in Yonkers, New York to act as strikebreakers and bury the 1,020 dead bodies in storage at Calvary. Spellman stated that he would do the same at Gate of Heaven. [9] According to a later report of the strike, the seminarians were caught off guard when they realized they had been called by the archbishop to act as gravediggers, and the strikers were also caught off guard by the action. [18] Picketers at the cemetery taunted the seminarians and priests with calls of "strikebreakers",[9] and when seminarians returned the following day to continue gravedigging, a spokesman for the union, speaking to the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper, said, "We support the seminary.
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Strike
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Lagny-Pomponne rail accident
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The Lagny-Pomponne rail disaster occurred on 23 December 1933, between Pomponne and Lagny-sur-Marne ( WikiMiniAtlas48°52′54″N 2°41′47″E / 48.88167°N 2.69639°E / 48.88167; 2.69639Coordinates: 48°52′54″N 2°41′47″E / 48.88167°N 2.69639°E / 48.88167; 2.69639), 20 kilometres (12 mi) east of Paris, when the 4-8-2 locomotive of the express for Strasbourg crashed at 110 km/hr (65 mph) into the rear of an auxiliary train bound for Nancy, which was stopped on the railway. The impact crushed and splintered the last five cars of the Nancy train, older wooden cars pressed into service for the holidays. Both trains were full of people going home to their families for Christmas. 204 people died and 120 were injured. It is second the worst railway disaster in French history, after the 1917 Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne derailment, and the worst ever in peacetime. The accident occurred in thick fog and it has been suggested that a build-up of ice on the AWS ramp may have prevented correct operation of the equipment. [1]
This French railway-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.
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Train collisions
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Colin Jost Flashes His New Wedding Band, Plus More Male Celebrity Rings We Love
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During the Saturday Night Live John Mulaney episode that aired Oct. 31, the Weekend Update host sported a simple gold band a week after he and Scarlett Johansson tied the knot in an intimate ceremony. Jost’s co-host, Michael Che, even made a joke about the couple’s wedding in relation to the upcoming election. "I don't know what this world's gonna be after Tuesday. I may never see you again, Colin,” said Che. “I mean, we might both get drafted in the race wars. It's not fair, you just married Scarlett Johansson. And I just bought an electric bike, we're both doing equally great.” Courtesy of Instagram/@victoriabeckham One month after proposing to fiancée Nicola Peltz, Brooklyn Beckham was seen wearing a wedding band on Instagram, prompting fans to assume the young couple already tied the knot. But regardless of whether the simple gold ring with a single diamond is an engagement ring or wedding ring, it proves that the photographer has great taste—much like his fashionable mother! Courtesy of Element Brand Group When Justin Bieber wed Hailey Baldwin during a traditional ceremony in September 2019, we were shocked to discover just how affordable his wedding band was. The 18k gold, 4.5 mm Tiffany Classic wedding ring cost him less than $1,000 and pairs nicely with his wife's gold Tiffany rings, too! Getty Images Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's wedding band is not short on bling. Since marrying Lauren Hashian in Hawaii in 2019, he's worn a diamond-studded solid gold ring. However, a few months after the wedding he admitted to WSJ Magazine that he planned to add two more wedding rings into his rotation: One from a bull’s horn and another from a Tyrannosaurus rex bone. Getty Images Joe Jonas didn't actually seal his marriage to Sophie Turner with the thin gold ring he's worn since the summer of 2019. Instead, he exchanged edible Ring Pops with the actress during their surprise Vegas wedding after the 2019 Billboard Music Awards. Getty Images When one marries a fashion designer, the wedding rings are bound to be showstopping. As is the case for Char DeFrancesco, who married designer Marc Jacobs on April 6, 2019. The couple worked with jeweler Material Good to design DeFrancesco's sparkling 17-carat emerald-cut eternity ring. Getty Images Nick Jonas and his wife Priyanka Chopra exchanged Chopard wedding bands during their over-the-top wedding weekend in 2018. The singer wears an 18K ethically sourced yellow gold band. Getty Images Being the modern royal that he is, Prince Harry bucked the British upper-class tradition of not wearing a wedding ring, instead choosing to flaunt his married status. His textured platinum band is from London jeweler Cleave & Company, the same designer behind Meghan Markle's custom three-stone engagement ring. Getty Images While Russell Wilson's wife Ciara wears two wedding bands, the NFL quarterback only needs one stunning ring to show he is taken. Designed by David Yurman, Wilson's gold ring is always flashing on his finger—except when he's on the football field! Getty Images Ashton Kutcher has worn a wedding band from Etsy since he married Mila Kunis in 2015. During an appearance on Conan the following year, Kunis revealed that both they were not prepared to spend a fortune on their new bling. "I went on Etsy and I was like, '$90?' I was like, 'Buy now,'" she recalled. "Ashton's was $100, so technically his wedding band was a little bit more expensive." Getty Images George Clooney's Italian wedding to Amal Alamuddin in 2014 might have been lavish, but his platinum wedding band is quite modest. Both he and his wife don platinum wedding rings, although his is thicker. Getty Images While most details of Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo's top-secret destination wedding in 2014 have been kept under wraps, we do have the details on Levine's wedding ring. He's always flashing the wide silver band on stage and on the red carpet. Getty Images Following the large wedding ring trend, Ryan Reynolds wears a thick gold band to mark his marriage with Blake Lively. Getty Images Ever since Neil Patrick Harris got engaged to now-husband David Burtka in 2007, they've been wearing matching silver bands on their ring fingers. The pair tied the knot in 2011 after the Marriage Equality Act passed. Getty Images It's no secret that Chris Hemsworth loves jewelry but our favorite accessory is his wedding band. He's worn a wide platinum ring since his marriage to Elsa Pataky in 2010. Getty Images Like his wife, David Beckham has sported several different wedding bands in the years since his 1999 wedding. The original ring, however, is a classic gold band.
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Famous Person - Marriage
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New month, worsening drought conditions in Minnesota
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After one of the driest Julys on record in parts of Minnesota, the drought conditions affecting the region show no signs of letting up to start the month of August. In the Twin Cities, the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport ended July with just 0.87 inches of rain for the month — more than 3 inches below normal. Since June 1, the airport is nearly a half-foot below normal rainfall. St. Cloud, Rochester, Duluth and International Falls also are between 3 and 5 inches below normal rainfall since June 1. Last week's U.S. Drought Monitor showed more than three-quarters of Minnesota in severe or extreme drought. This week's update will be issued on Thursday — and there's no indication of widespread rain coming in the next few days. Forecasters say repeated, soaking rains are needed to break the drought across the region. Without those rains, already-evident effects of the drought may worsen through the coming weeks. There have been reports of wells running dry in parts of Minnesota. Crops are stunted by the lack of rain, pastures are drying up, and some farmers are running out of hay to feed their livestock. Some rivers across the state are running at or near historic lows — and some lake levels are dropping, too. Some trees are showing signs of stress from the abnormally dry conditions. Val Cervenka is forest health program coordinator at the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. While autumn is a long way off and weather patterns could change, she said if dry conditions stick around it could diminish the fall colors. "Drought can kind of promote some fall color — but that's in the fall. We're not in the fall; we're already dry," she said. "So it's kind of hard to say, 'Well, the fall color is going to be good in some trees because because they're dry.' You just don't know; they just may drop their leaves before then because they're trying to conserve water." And Cervenka said fall colors in Minnesota may arrive earlier than usual — again, that's if the drought continues. But even if the overall fall color display is muted, she said there'll always be pockets of more vibrant leaves. As for trees showing signs of drought stress now, Cervenka said she's heard some reports of sumac and birch leaves changing colors, or trees dropping leaves to save moisture. Drought-stressed trees can be more susceptible to insects and diseases. They also create a greater danger of wildfires. But for the most part, forest trees around Minnesota should be able to get through the drought — as long as it doesn't extend into multiple seasons. "In general, most trees, if they haven't already been stressed for several years in a row, they're able to bounce back from a year of this kind of weather," Cervenka said. "Most trees are able to bounce back from just about anything if it doesn't go on year after year." For trees in yards, especially new trees, watering may be needed — if it's allowed under local ordinances; some communities have restricted watering. If watering is allowed, Cervenka said trees need to be deeply watered so that it promotes deeper root growth. Watering in the evening or early morning helps prevent evaporation.
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Droughts
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Bundaberg suburb's contaminated water turned off a week after PFAS concerns raised
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Bundaberg Council has switched off drinking water from a reservoir in the suburb of Svensson Heights after unsafe levels of the potentially toxic chemical PFAS were confirmed in the water.
Queensland Health said it was alerted by the council of a potential threat to the drinking water last week.
Bundaberg Mayor Jack Dempsey released a statement on Friday saying the contaminated bore was "immediately" removed from the area's supply system and that properties were already receiving water from other sources.
But chief health officer Jeannette Young said council notified the public health unit on Thursday, April 5.
She said she became aware the following day and further tests this week confirmed high levels of PFAS in the suburb's drinking water.
The council said it switched off the water on Wednesday this week and began draining the reservoir.
It said about 5,000 residents lived in Svensson Heights, a suburb near the city's airport, a former RAAF station.
Defence Force bases have been closely linked with PFAS contamination across Australia, because of their use of firefighting foams.
Dr Young said the tests found PFAS levels were twice that of current national guidelines, but that Svensson Heights residents should not be alarmed.
"I really want to reassure residents that the risk of any consequence for the health of people in the community is low," Dr Young said.
She said it was the first time such a large populated area had been exposed to PFAS.
"It's possibly been in the water for many years," she said. "Council is investigating that at the moment, they're not sure where the source of contamination is."
The council said the Department of Environment and Science was investigating the source of the contamination.
Cr Dempsey described the water issue as "a shock" to the council.
"It is only in this bore area," Cr Dempsey said of the contamination.
"Other tests have been conducted across our network and I can reassure residents the water that is in place certainly meets all of the state government guidelines.
"I can also reaffirm to the community there will be no interruption to the water supply, the mains have been flushed out, as well as the main stakeholders notified."
Queensland Health said concerns about PFAS typically related to exposure over several decades.
PFAS chemicals were components in firefighting foam, as well as household and industrial products. They have not been used in Queensland since 2003.
The effects of PFAS (perfluorinated) chemicals on human health and the environment are being investigated by Australian and international authorities.
They include perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluoro-octanoic acid (PFOA), which are resistant to heat, water and oil.
PFOS was added to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants in 2009, but Australia has not ratified that agreement.
Both PFOS and PFOA were previously used extensively in firefighting foams by both civilian and Defence Force firefighters around Australia.
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn, and work.
This service may include material from Agence France-Presse (AFP), APTN, Reuters, AAP, CNN and the BBC World Service which is copyright and cannot be reproduced.
AEST = Australian Eastern Standard Time which is 10 hours ahead of GMT (Greenwich Mean Time)
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Environment Pollution
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China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 crash
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China Northwest Airlines Flight 2303 was a domestic flight from Xi'an to Guangzhou, People's Republic of China. [1] On June 6, 1994, the aircraft operating the flight, a Tupolev Tu-154M, broke up in-flight and crashed as a result of an autopilot malfunction which caused violent shaking and overstressed the airframe. [2] All 160 people on board were killed. [2][3][4] As of 2021, it remains the deadliest airplane crash ever in mainland China. [5]
The aircraft was a Tupolev Tu-154M (registration B-2610, factory 86A740, serial no. 0740). It was completed by the Kuibyshev Aviation Plant (KuAPO) on December 22, 1986, and was immediately transferred to the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC). On July 1, 1988, due to reorganization, CAAC transferred the aircraft to China Northwest Airlines. The aircraft was powered with three turbojet Soloviev D-30KU-154-II engines from the Rybinsk Engine Plant. On the day of the accident, the aircraft had 12,507 flying hours and 6,651 takeoff and landing cycles. [6]
The flight crew consisted of captain Li Gangqiang, faculty captain Xin Tiancai, first officer Yang Min, pilot Zhang Nanjing, and flight engineer Kang Youfa. There were also nine flight attendants on board. [3][7][citation needed]
The aircraft took off from Xi'an Xianyang International Airport at 8:13 on June 6, 1994. At the time, it was raining, but this did not cause a delay in departure. Twenty-four seconds after take-off, the crew reported that the aircraft was "floating" and making an abnormal sound, but were still able to maintain a speed of 400 kilometres per hour (250 mph). [8] Three minutes after take-off, the plane flew over Xi'an City and turned southeast. [9] The crew then reported an unstable pitch-up to 20° and 30° at 8:16:24 and 8:16:58, respectively. At 8:17:06, while over Mingdu Township, Chang'an County, Shaanxi, the aircraft became unable to maintain its assigned attitude. The crew then temporarily engaged the autopilot, which unexpectedly caused the aircraft to turn right. At 8:22:27, with the aircraft travelling at 373 kilometres per hour (232 mph), the stall warning activated. The aircraft then banked dangerously to the left, and dropped from 4,717 metres (15,476 ft) feet to 2,884 metres (9,462 ft) in 12 seconds, at a speed of 747 kilometres per hour (464 mph). At 8:22:42, the aircraft disintegrated in mid-air above the suburb of Tsuitou Village, Mingyu Township. [10] All 146 passengers and 14 crew died, most on impact. [11] Wreckage landed to the southeast of the airport, scattered over 18 miles (29 km) of farmland. Poor maintenance was the probable cause of the accident. The previous evening, the autopilot yaw-channel had been erroneously connected to the bank control, and the bank-channel to the yaw controls, while undergoing maintenance at an unapproved facility. [5][6][12]
This crash, as well as the crash of China Southwest Airlines Flight 4509 in 1999, resulted in China's decision to retire the Tupolev Tu-154. All Tu-154s in China were removed from service on October 30, 2002. [13] In 2003 China Northwest airlines merged into China Eastern Airlines. Flight 2303 is still in use, by China Eastern Airlines, for their Xian-Guangzhou flight. [14][15]
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Air crash
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Silent Killer: Watch Out for Carbon Monoxide Dangers This Winter
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SUNDAY, Feb. 14, 2021 (HealthDay News) -- Carbon monoxide poisoning can prove fatal without a warning, because it can't be seen, smelled or heard.
It's important to be aware of it, especially during winter when you're indoors and using heat sources to stay cozy.
The Nebraska Regional Poison Center has some tips for preventing carbon monoxide (CO) poisoning and recognizing symptoms of exposure to CO.
CO is a gas produced when fuels burn incompletely. This includes gas- and wood-burning fuel sources, such as furnaces, fireplaces, stoves, water heaters, gas clothes dryers and cooking stoves, space heaters and gas-powered grills, generators and power tools.
Poisoning happens when a person inhales either high levels of the gas over a short period or low levels over a longer time. Symptoms can resemble other health conditions and include headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness, confusion and loss of consciousness.
If you suspect someone is experiencing carbon monoxide poisoning, get that person to fresh air immediately. You may need to call 911. The person may need to be treated by doctors. Your local poison center can assist you.
The Nebraska Regional Poison Center offers several tips to protect yourself from this deadly gas:
More than 400 people in the United States die every year from carbon monoxide poisoning, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CO poisoning also leads to more than 15,000 emergency room visits each year.
The CO death rate is highest among people 65 and older, according to a center news release.
You can reach poison control at 1-800-222-1222. When you call, you will talk immediately to a registered nurse or pharmacist.
More information
The National Capital Poison Center has more on preventing and responding to poisoning emergencies.
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Mass Poisoning
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Key WTO members accepted proposals to cut the subsidies wealthy countries give their farmers for exports
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Key WTO members accepted proposals to cut the subsidies wealthy countries give their farmers for exports. The deal should reduce barriers to international trade and so, it is hoped, lift millions out of poverty. Brazil's Foreign Minister, Celso Amorim, said the WTO agreement was good for trade and good for social justice. "This is the beginning of the end for [farm] subsidies. Export subsidies will be eliminated first," he said. The agreement, agreed late on Saturday in Geneva, puts the so-called Doha round of trade talks back on track, after similar talks in Cancun last September ended in deadlock. The Geneva talks were extended for an extra 24 hours after the 147 WTO members failed to reach an agreement by the end of Friday, the original deadline. Hammered out
"Today's news is that the Doha round is back on track," EU trade commissioner Pascal Lamy said.
Analysis: Much work ahead
"In Cancun I said the round was in intensive care. Today it's not only out of the hospital but well and running," he added.
US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said the deal was "a crucial step for world trade".
But even with the latest agreement, the details will still have to be hammered out, and that could take at least another couple of years, says the BBC's John Moylan in Geneva. A small group of African countries claimed a major breakthrough on their key agricultural product of cotton, our correspondent says.
After hours of talks, key WTO nations, including the US, the EU, Brazil and Japan, agreed to eliminate export subsidies at a date to be set, to limit other subsidies and lower tariff barriers.
In return, wealthier nations, among them the EU's members, are insisting on better access to markets in developing nations. France, the biggest beneficiary of EU agricultural subsidies, has been highly critical of moves to cut support for farmers.
But EU Agricultural Commissioner Franz Fischler said the EU could "broadly accept" the deal.
Japan and Switzerland were also concerned about the removal of subsidies for some of their agricultural producers.
"The liberalization process will put additional economic
pressure on our farmers," said Swiss President and
Economics Minister Joseph Deiss.
But he welcomed the plan nonetheless: "This will be a key step for the opening of the world economy and this will be of benefit
for all countries."
The Geneva agreement revives the long-stalled talks on a trade liberalisation treaty that began in Doha in 2001 but which collapsed amid a bitter rift between developed and developing nations in Cancun last year.
WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi said the breakthrough was a historic moment for the organisation. According to the World Bank, a successful final deal could add $520bn (£280bn; 420bn euros) to the world economy by 2015, if rich and developing countries cut their tariffs. Most of the benefit would, the World Bank believes, go to poorer countries.
Analysts say it is vital that any new deal be agreed before 2007, when what is known as fast-track legislation expires in the US.
Without fast-track, which limits the power of the US Congress to alter trade deals negotiated by Washington, there is little prospect that the US will adopt a new pact.
EU Commissioner Lamy said that he now believed the Doha round could be completed by the end of 2005.
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Sign Agreement
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2017 South Supreme Airlines Antonov An-26 crash
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On 20 March 2017, an Antonov An-26 of South Supreme Airlines was destroyed by fire after landing at Wau Airport, South Sudan on a domestic flight from Juba Airport. The accident aircraft was an Antonov An-26,[1] registration S9-TLZ. [2]
The aircraft was destroyed by fire after landing at Wau Airport, South Sudan on a domestic scheduled passenger flight from Juba Airport, South Sudan. There were 40 passengers, plus five crew on board. [1] The accident occurred at about 15:00 local time (12:00 UTC),[3] in conditions of 800 metres (870 yd) visibility. [2][4] The aircraft may already have been on fire when it landed. An eyewitness reported smoke coming from the tail as it was landing. [5] Another report is that the aircraft collided with a fire engine after it had landed, and then caught fire. [2] The left landing gear collapsed and the aircraft was destroyed by the ensuing fire. Thirty-seven passengers received various degrees of injuries, however, no death was recorded from the crash. [6][7][8]
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Air crash
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Crocodiles eat a lot of things.These prehistoric relics were rare treats
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Americans are ready to go on the road for vacation Crocodiles eat a lot of things.These prehistoric relics were rare treats Updated: September 14, 2021 1:31 am EDT Christina Zdanowicz, CNN Discovering prehistoric relics is surprising enough. But finding them deep inside the belly of a giant crocodile is another thing. Shane Smith, owner of Red Antler Processing in Yazoo City, Mississippi, was digging a 13-foot-5-inch crocodile stomach. Some objects he couldn’t put. Animals were brought in for meat and leather processing. He said both items turned out to be Native American crafts thousands of years ago and were later discovered by experts. This is impossible. ” “Of course, I think,’Oh, this crocodile ate an Indian or an animal shot by an Indian.’ But, as you know, the crocodile isn’t thousands of years old. Geologist James Stearns investigated native American artifacts found in the Mississippi Delta, as Smith found the objects (some of the hunting tools to look like lures) interesting enough. Based on that, I was able to look at the pictures of the artifacts and talk a lot about their history. Stearns is responsible for surface geology and surface mapping at the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality. He described the object as a dive, a tear-shaped metal object of unknown use, and a spear, the “Attractor Darts Point.” “North America, especially Mississippi, had Native Americans, probably more than 12,000 years ago,” Sterns said. “This technique was the one they would have brought,” said Stearns, who said the use of plumb bob was “hotly debated” among experts. According to Stearns, it looks like a fishing weight or net weight, but it’s made of hematite, an “exotic” material that may have come from far away from the Great Lakes region. .. According to Stearns, it seems unusual to use very “glamorous” objects for utilitarians such as fishing. The plunge seems to be from the late part of the archaic cultural era of 1,000 to 2,000 BC. According to Stearns, this was part of the Atlas Darts Point and served as the basis for hunting tools. He described it as a base with an arrowhead at the tip. “These were made before the bow and arrow appeared in North America,” he said. Now the bigger question: how these artifacts got into the stomach of a giant crocodile Crocodile is known to eat all sorts of things. The big ones included fish bones and scales, teeth, small mammalian bones, and hundreds of persimmon seeds and rocks, Smith said. According to Smith, the rocks range in size from a quarter to a dollar coin, and the crocodile was captured by John Hamilton, who was found on September 2 at Eagle Lake, north of Vicksburg, Mississippi. Other groups estimated that this crocodile was 80-100 years old. The contents of its stomach were remarkable, but there was another strange thing Smith recently found in a crocodile. Another big crocodile found in 2021 was “a .45 caliber bullet in his stomach,” Smith said. “The strange thing about that is that the bullet wasn’t fired from the gun. It was just a clean bullet, so I wonder how it got there.” Finding the relics of this era is Mississippi. It’s common in this area of the world, says Stearns. The area has been so populous for so long that relics appear in very rare places, “says Stearns. “It can be eroded from the surface and exposed in the rain, construction projects, etc.” The use of stone was popular in the archaic era. “I can imagine this on one of these sites. Many stones are eroded from the banks, which is a very easy picking for a crocodile, especially looking for her.” I will eat anything. ” Discovering prehistoric relics is surprising enough. But finding them deep inside the belly of a giant crocodile-that’s another thing. Shane Smith, owner of Red Antler Processing in Yazoo City, Mississippi, found some objects that couldn’t be placed while digging the stomach of a 13-foot-5-inch crocodile. Animals were brought in for meat and skin treatment. Both items turned out to be Native American artifacts dating back thousands of years, and he said he later discovered from experts. “My first instinct was, no way. There’s no way this could be done,” Smith told CNN. “Of course, I think,’Oh, this crocodile ate an Indian or an animal shot by an Indian.’ But, as you know, the crocodile is not thousands of years old. “ Smith found the object (which is part of a hunting tool and looks like a fishing lure) interesting enough, so he posted it on the store’s Facebook page. Geologist James Stearns was able to look at photographs of the relics and tell a great deal about their history, based on a study of Native American relics found in the Mississippi Delta. Starnes is Director of Surface Geology and Surface Mapping. Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality.. According to Stearns, the object is a teardrop-shaped metal object of unknown use, a plunge, and a spear or darts used for hunting, the “Attractor Darts Point.” “North America, especially Mississippi, has Native American residents who probably date back more than 12,000 years,” he said. “This technology was the technology they would have brought.” According to Stearns, the use of plumb bob is “hotly debated” among experts. It looks like fishing weight or net weight, which claims it was used. But it is made of hematite. This is an “exotic” material that may have come from far away from the Great Lakes region. He added that it seems unusual to use an object that was so “glamorous” for something practical, such as fishing. The plunge seems to be from a late archaic cultural era, between 1,000 and 2,000 BC, Stearns said. The brown rock, which was part of the Atlas darts point, served as the basis for hunting equipment, Stearns said. He described it as a base with a tipped arrowhead. “These things were made before the bow and arrow appeared in North America,” he said. Now, the bigger question: how did these relics get into the stomach of a giant crocodile? Crocodiles are known to eat a variety of foods. The big ones included fish bones and scales, teeth, small mammalian bones, and hundreds of persimmon seeds and rocks, Smith said. He said the rocks ranged in size from a quarter to a dollar coin. According to Smith, the crocodile was captured by John Hamilton, who was found on September 2 at Eagle Lake, north of Vicksburg, Mississippi. According to Smith, the crocodile was estimated to be between the ages of 80 and 100 among Gator’s prisoners of war, Smith and others. The contents of its stomach were remarkable, but there was another strange thing Smith recently found in a crocodile. Another large crocodile, also discovered in 2021, had “a .45 caliber bullet in the stomach,” Smith said. “The strange thing about that is that the bullet wasn’t fired from the gun. It was just a clean bullet, so I’m wondering how I got there.” Finding relics of this era is common in this part of Mississippi, says Stearns. “The area has been so populous for so long that relics appear in some very rare places,” Stearns said. “They can be eroded from the surface, or they can be exposed for things like rain events, construction projects.” He said the use of stone was popular during the archaic era. “I can imagine one of these sites using so much stone being eroded by banks. It’s a very easy choice for a crocodile, especially looking for her. It’s just what you eat, “he said. “The crocodile eats almost anything.”
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New archeological discoveries
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