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2002 Shelkovskaya Mi-8 crash

The 2002 Shelkovskaya Mil Mi-8 crash in Chechnya killed 14 people, including senior Russian officers, among them the deputy Interior Minister Mikhail Rudchenko. On January 27, 2002, a Russian Interior Ministry Mil Mi-8 was shot down and exploded near Shelkovskaya in Nadterechny District, killing 14 people including crew. Among those killed in the crash were Lieutenant-General Mikhail Rudchenko responsible for security in the Southern Federal District, and Major-General Nikolai Goridov, deputy commander of the Internal Troops, as well as Colonels Oriyenko, Stepanenko, and Trafimov. [1]

Air crash

1990 IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships

The 1990 IAAF World Women's Road Race Championships was the eighth, and penultimate, edition of the annual international road running competition organised by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF). The competition was hosted by Ireland on 14 October 1990 in Dublin and featured one race only: a 15K run for women. There were individual and team awards available, with the national team rankings being decided by the combined finishing positions of a team's top three runners. Countries with fewer than three finishers were not ranked. [1] Romania's Iulia Olteanu won the race in a time of 50:11.8 – the slowest winning time recorded at the competition's history. Francie Larrieu Smith of the United States was the silver medallist and Chinese runner Zhong Huandi took bronze to feature on the podium for a second year running. Aurora Cunha led Portugal to the team title, as she had in 1987, with support from Conceição Ferreira and Lucilia Soares. The Soviet Union reached the team podium for a fifth time in as many years through the efforts of Nadezhda Stepanova, Valentina Yegorova and Lyudmila Matveyeva. A unified German team entered for the first time and former East German Katrin Dörre led the team to third place in the team rankings with former West Germans Kerstin Pressler and Christina Mai. [2]

Sports Competition

2020 United States essential workers general strike

2020 2021 By conveyance Variants of SARS-CoV-2 Vaccines (deployment by country) (vaccine card) By country Strikes occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic due to many factors including: hazard pay or low pay, unsafe working conditions (due to poor social distancing or a lack of personal protective equipment), inability to pay rent. These strikes are separate from the various protests that occurred over responses to the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic in the United States has led to the highest number of total infections and deaths of any other country on Earth, although per capita it is not the highest. The pandemic has caused the unemployment rate to skyrocket from roughly 2 percent of the workforce to nearly 18 percent of the workforce, higher than the Great Recession of 2008, but lower than the peak of the Great Depression in 1933. Many employers for non-essential work have shifted to teleworking to avoid infections in office environments at the suggestion of the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and by the end of March 2020, all 50 states in the U.S. had confirmed cases and deaths and had initiated stay-at-home orders. As a result of the high unemployment rates and social injustices that were laid bare during the pandemic, people began to strike for various reasons including rent strikes, prison strikes, university strikes, and worker strikes. [citation needed] During the COVID-19 pandemic an array of social inequalities were exposed including the flaws of the prison system in the US that faltered under the public health emergency. As a result of mass incarceration in the US and unhealthy living conditions within the prisons, the incarcerated population is five times more likely to contract the COVID-19 virus. [1] At least 392,595 incarcerated people have tested positive for COVID-19 and at least 2,516 people in prison have died from complications related to the virus. [2] The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world, and often has crowded and unsanitary conditions causing difficulty in following CDC guidelines such as social distancing and hand sanitizing as hand sanitizers are often banned or limited in correctional facilities. [3] In response to the rising cases and crowded conditions, thousands of inmates were released; however, strikes continued to emerge as inmates protest their living conditions. [3] A hunger strike occurred at York County Prison in Pennsylvania. [4] Another hunger strike happened in Otay Mesa, San Diego, California on 17 April 2020 at the Otay Mesa Detention Center. [5] Additionally detainees of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) have begun to strike in protest of unsafe and over-crowded conditions in ICE facilities. 60 women being held at an ICE facility Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, Washington organized a hunger strike demanding the release of all vulnerable people. [6] Detained immigrants across three ICE facilities in New Jersey organized a hunger strike with 86 people being held in an ICE facility in Newark, New Jersey hunger striking and demanding their release given the inability to curb the spread of COVID-19 within the facility. [6] Responses to these hunger strikes in some cases have been violent with ICE officers using pepper spray on a group of Cuban asylum seekers in New Mexico after they organized a hunger strike. [6] On 1 April, 32 residential tenants in Chicago went on strike. [7] One Los Angeles landlord, while trying to prevent a rent strike by emailing 300 tenants that they owe rent, inadvertently caused one by cc'ing, and not bcc'ing those tenants on the list who used the contact information to coordinate a strike. [8] A solitary renter in Colorado went on strike. [9] A group of at least 20 tenants went on strike in Oakland, California. [10] Almost a dozen renters in Austin, Texas went on rent strike in one building. [11] According to the National Multifamily Housing Council, 69 percent of American renters were on time with rent by 5 April 2020, as compared to 81 percent in March 2020. [12] On 8 April 13 Philadelphia households went on rent strike. [13] In May 2020 thousands of New York City tenants declined to pay rent in a rent strike. [14] Since the beginning of the pandemic there have been as many as a thousand primarily unsanctioned, spontaneous strikes across the United States fueled by lack of safe working conditions. [15] Many commercial tenants, notably retailers, have called the situation a "force majeure"[17] as rationale for voiding lease agreements, although landlords still have to make mortgage payments. [17] These include Cheesecake Factory,[18][19] Mattress Firm[20] and Subway[17] have refused to pay April 2020 rent due to the pandemic,[21] and resulting unemployment. [22][23] Rent Strike 2020 is an activist organization that was formed during the 2020 pandemic to promote widespread rent strikes. [24][25] In Chicago, the Autonomous Tenant's Union has been advocating rent freezes as well as mortgage freezes and utility freezes. [26] A group of 100 renters in Kent, Ohio formed the Kent Tenants Union, which created a list of demands to pay rent. [27] The International Alliance of Inhabitants is a global network of grassroots organizations active on all continents, such the Zero Evictions Campaign. It established the International Tribunal on Evictions which held sessions and collaborates with the UN Rapporteur on the Right to Housing. [28] The IAI has mobilized early in the pandemic the Zero Evictions for Coronavirus campaign post on Facebook which has had hundreds of post of stories, proposals, practices, struggles for the right to housing from all over the world. It also has information on how popular organizations and their allies, local authorities, and governments are facing the housing crisis uncovered by the coronavirus. The IAI is also gathering on the Facebook page, Rent Strike with hundreds of posts on struggles and activities related to the Rent strike. [citation needed] A petition organized by the Kulin Nations (Melbourne) branch of the Industrial Workers of the World recorded nearly 20,000 signatures on its page. [29] This prompted the organization of rent strike support groups in preparation for 31 March, when renters from multiple Council areas sent letters of demand to real estate companies and landlords stating their intention to cease paying rent beginning in April. Initial organization came before announcement of a moratorium on evictions for six months by the Australian Federal government, and continued afterwards. [30] In Toronto, renters protested in front of their landlords' mansions[31] In the UK all eviction proceedings have been suspended, and a three-month, extendable, moratorium on new proceedings imposed. [32] In addition household assistance of various forms has been made available to domestic tenants, and support for landlords has been extended via the banks. [32] However, students at the University of the West of England and Bristol University went on a rent strike against many landlords who continued to charge them full priced rent. [33] Students at the University of Manchester launched a rent strike and occupation in November 2020, calling for a 40 percent rent reduction for the duration of the 2020/21 academic year, for the option of ending their tenancies early without penalty, and for additional help for self-isolating students. [34] In response to the rent strike the university cut rent by 30 percent for all students in university halls of residence. [35] Rent strikes were also announced in Autumn 2020 at the University of Glasgow, which resulted in a one-month rent rebate, and the University of Cambridge. [35] Students at the University of Chicago went on a tuition strike[36] similar strikes are seen at Pomona College, The New School and others. [37] Students at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie have gone on a strike from classes, after the University refused to implement a Universal Pass system for the classes during the pandemic. PhD students at Columbia University began a strike, stating that their rent should be canceled, research stipends increased, and an extra year added to their programs to make up for lost time due to the pandemic. [37] On September 8, the graduate students' union at the University of Michigan declared a strike over concerns regarding their school's reopening plans. [38] The strike ended on September 17 following an agreement between the union and the university.

Strike

A Chinese Black Swan that could spook markets

The number of Americans collecting and applying for unemployment benefits is hovering near pre-pandemic records. By some measures, the figure still exceeds any historical precedent. The volume reflects deep and sustained pain for workers, nearly nine months after the health and economic crisis began. “The numbers we’re looking at now are [far higher than] anything we’ve seen before,” said Erica Groshen, a labor economist at Cornell University and former commissioner of the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics. “We’ve never seen a shock like this.” Around 5.9 million filed a “continued claim” for state unemployment insurance the week of Nov. 14, according to the Labor Department. Continued claims are a rough proxy for the number of people receiving benefits. Those figures are close to the prior peak — 6.5 million continued claims — set in March 2009 during the Great Recession. (These figures don’t reflect seasonal adjustments, to better compare statistics across time periods.) More from Personal Finance:For student loan borrowers, monthly payments resume in JanuaryWhat to do before making a charitable donationCongress stalled on stimulus talks as millions face benefits cliff The current level, while down substantially from its pandemic high of nearly 23 million claims in May, is still nearly triple what it was in February. But taking a broader view of unemployment programs shows that the share of people receiving jobless benefits still well exceeds the prior Great Recession record. For example, there are 5 million workers who exhausted their allotment of traditional unemployment insurance and are receiving additional weeks of benefits via separate programs. There are also around 9 million self-employed, gig and other workers currently receiving benefits through the temporary Pandemic Unemployment Assistance program. However, some measures, such as PUA, were created as part of the CARES Act federal relief law enacted in March and didn’t exist during prior recessions. Initial claims for jobless benefits are also elevated compared with past decades. There were around 828,000 initial claims for unemployment insurance filed the week of Nov. 21, according to the Labor Department. (Again, this figure doesn’t reflect a seasonal adjustment.) Initial claims are essentially first-time applications for aid. They may also reflect new claims filed by workers laid off for a second time during the pandemic. The current level is down from the peak of 6.2 million initial claims filed in early April, but around four times pre-pandemic levels in February. There are only a few times in history when initial claims peaked above the current level. Workers filed around 1 million initial claims in 1982 and again in 1983; 969,000 claims in 1975; 957,000 in 2009; and 882,000 in 1992. All those exceptionally high levels were set in January, when many temporary workers are laid off after the holiday season, and during or immediately following an economic downturn. In addition, there were another 312,000 workers who filed an initial claim through the PUA program the week of Nov. 21. Overall initial unemployment claims would still exceed those of past decades if such workers were counted.

Financial Crisis

Aeroperú Flight 603 crash

Aeroperú Flight 603 was a scheduled flight from Miami International Airport in Miami, Florida, US (KMIA), to Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport in Santiago, Chile (SCEL), with stopovers in Quito, Ecuador and Lima, Peru. On 2 October 1996, the Boeing 757-23A aircraft flying the final leg of the flight crashed, killing all 70 people aboard. The investigation determined that the air data computers were unable to show correct airspeed and altitude on cockpit displays, because a maintenance worker had failed to remove tape covering the static ports on the aircraft exterior. Flying at night over water with no visual references, the pilots struggled to control and navigate the aircraft, unaware of their true altitude. The crash resulted after its left wing and № 1 engine hit the surface of the Pacific Ocean. [1] The aircraft, a Boeing 757-23A was delivered new from Boeing on 2 December 1992, to Ansett Worldwide. It was leased to Aeroméxico on 27 September 1993 and then sub-leased to Aeroperú on 1 April 1994. The lease transferred back to Ansett in February 1995, and Aeroperú continued to operate the aircraft until it crashed. [2][3] The captain was 58-year-old Eric Schreiber Ladrón de Guevara, who had logged almost 22,000 flight hours (including 1,520 hours on the Boeing 757),[4] and the first officer was 42-year-old David Fernández Revoredo, who had logged almost 8,000 flight hours, with 719 of them on the Boeing 757. [4]:4–7 On 1 October 1996, Aeroperú Flight 603 from Miami International Airport had landed at the Lima Airport. One hundred and eighty passengers were on the first leg of the flight on a Boeing 757. One hundred and nineteen had disembarked, and the remaining passengers were transferred to another Boeing 757. [4][5][6][7] The aircraft took off 42 minutes after midnight (05:42 UTC) on 2 October,[4]:10 and straight away, the Boeing 757 airliner crew discovered that their basic flight instruments were behaving erratically and reported receiving contradictory serial emergency messages from the flight management computer, including the altitude and airspeed indicator, rudder ratio, mach speed trim, overspeed, underspeed and flying too low. The crew declared an emergency and requested an immediate return to the airport. [8] The pilots incorrectly believed that they could figure out the actual aircraft altitude by asking the controller, but neither the pilots nor the controller realized that the altitude information displayed on the controller's screen was sent from the aircraft’s Mode C Transponder. As the transponder was receiving the same erroneous altitude information being displayed on the aircraft’s altimeter, the altitude on the controller's display was also incorrect. [8] Faced with a lack of reliable basic flight instrument readings, constant contradictory warnings from the aircraft's flight computer (some of which were valid and some of which were not) and believing that they were at a safe altitude,[4]:22–23 the crew decided to begin descent for the approach to the airport. Since the flight was at night over water, no visual references were available to convey to the pilots their true altitude or to aid their descent. As a consequence of the pilots' inability to precisely monitor the aircraft's airspeed or vertical speed, they experienced multiple stalls, resulting in rapid loss of altitude with no corresponding change on the altimeter. While the altimeter indicated an altitude of approximately 9,700 feet, the aircraft's true altitude was much lower. [8] The air traffic controller instructed a Boeing 707 to take off and to help guide the 757 in to land, but before the 707 could do so, the 757's left wingtip clipped the water approximately 25 minutes after the emergency declaration, tearing off several feet of the left wing. The pilots desperately clawed for altitude and managed to get the 757 airborne again for 22 seconds, but due to the damage of the left wing the aircraft rolled over and slammed into the water inverted. [9] All 70 passengers and crew died. [4][10][11] About half of the passengers on the flight were Chileans returning to Chile. [8][12][13] Of the passengers, 21 originated from Miami; all of the originating passengers were Chilean. An additional 10 passengers had boarded in Quito. The remaining passengers had boarded in Lima. [14] After the crash, recovery crews found nine bodies floating, but 61 bodies had sunk with the aircraft. [8] The Commission of Accident Investigations (CAI) of the Director General of Air Transport (DGAT) of Peru wrote the final accident report. [15] The chief Peruvian accident investigator, Guido Fernández Lañas, was the uncle of the co-pilot, David Fernández. There were some reservations about the potential conflict of interest, but the National Transportation Safety Board-appointed investigator, Richard Rodriguez, determined that Fernández Lañas could properly investigate the accident. [8] The Peruvian Navy collected the floating wreckage. After the Peruvian authorities asked for assistance, the United States Navy provided equipment to locate the underwater wreckage of the Boeing 757 and retrieve its flight data recorder and cockpit voice recorder. [8] Later investigation into the accident revealed that adhesive tape had been accidentally left over some or all of the static ports (on the underside of the fuselage) after the aircraft was cleaned, eventually leading to the crash. Employee Eleuterio Chacaliaza had left the tape on by mistake. [16] The static ports are vital to the operation of virtually all of those flight instruments that provide basic aerodynamic data such as airspeed, altitude and vertical speed, not only to the pilots but also to the aircraft's computers, which provide additional functions, such as warnings when flight characteristics approach dangerous levels. The blockage of all of the static ports is one of the few common-failure modes resulting in total failure of multiple basic flight instruments and as such is regarded as one of the most serious faults that can occur within the avionics systems. [17] The design of the aircraft did not incorporate a system of maintenance covers for the static ports. Such covers are commonly employed in aviation for blocking access to critical components when the aircraft is not in operation and are generally a bright color and carry flags (which may have "remove before flight" markings). Instead, the design of the aircraft and the relevant maintenance procedure called for the use of adhesive tape to cover the ports. [17] As a result of the blocked static ports, the basic flight instruments relayed false airspeed, altitude and vertical speed data. Because the failure was not in any of the instruments, but rather in a common supporting system, thereby defeating redundancy, the erroneous altimeter data was also broadcast to air traffic control, which was attempting to provide the pilots with basic flight data. This led to extreme confusion in the cockpit as the pilots were provided with some data (altitude) which seemed to correlate correctly with instrument data (altimeter) while the other data provided by ATC (approximate airspeed) did not agree. Although the pilots were quite cognizant of the possibility that all of the flight instruments were providing inaccurate data, the correlation between the altitude data given by ATC and that on the altimeter likely further compounded the confusion. Also contributing to their difficulty were the numerous cockpit alarms that the computer system generated, which conflicted both with each other and with the instruments. This lack of situational awareness was revealed by the cockpit voice recorder transcript. [18] That the flight took place at night and over water, thus not giving the pilots any visual references, was also identified as a major factor. [17] The official accident report concluded that the flight crew, distracted by the conflicting warnings, did not heed the radar altimeter reading after descending through 2,500 feet. [4] Mike Eidson, an American attorney, represented 41 passengers and crew in a lawsuit contending that the aircraft's manufacturer, Boeing, bore responsibility for the disaster, as the company ought to have foreseen the misuse of its products. [8][19] The suit was filed against Boeing in federal court in Miami in May 1997.

Air crash

The first day the two shopping malls in Jurong East reopened for business after a mandatory two-week closure

SINGAPORE - Dinner-time crowds were thin at Jem and Westgate on Sunday (June 6), the first day the two shopping malls in Jurong East reopened for business after a mandatory two-week closure. The two malls were linked to a Covid-19 cluster that numbered 63 cases as at Saturday. When The Straits Times visited the malls at 7pm on Sunday for two hours, some shoppers said it was not as crowded as it was on weekends before the closures. The malls had been closed since May 23 for deep cleaning of the premises, after investigations by the Ministry of Health found likely ongoing transmission among visitors to the two malls. Both malls told ST that they have completed deep cleaning and disinfection works prior to the reopening. The air in Westgate's air-conditioned areas will be purged daily before the mall opens for business each day, said CapitaLand, which operates Westgate. Air dampers in the building are also fully opened to improve air intake in the mall's kitchens and toilets. CapitaLand said it has also ramped up cleaning protocols in the mall. After the mall closes for the day, autonomous ultraviolet (UV) disinfection robots will be deployed to disinfect the premises. This comes on top of other precautions including placing disinfection floor mats at key entrances and coating high contact areas with an anti-microbial disinfectant. Jem will continue to maintain its enhanced cleaning regime and safe distancing protocols, said its operator Lendlease Singapore. Lendlease head of asset operations Jenny Khoo said: "Jem reopened smoothly today after completing all the required disinfection and deep cleaning works in collaboration with our tenants. We are excited to welcome shoppers back, with the roll-out of attractive perks for shoppers to enjoy." On Sunday evening, a number of retail stores and eateries were closed in both Westgate and Jem. Shoppers were sparse at popular haunts like Ikea and Don Don Donki, both located in Jem. Mr Ang Won Leong, 28, who works in security at Changi Airport, said he took the opportunity to visit Ikea, as he has not been there since the furniture store opened on April 29. Mr Ang, who was with his girlfriend, said: "We just wanted to leave our house and walk around for a bit to do some shopping and buy food. I wouldn't say we're worried - it's just another day." A shopper who wanted to be known as Ms Mondal, 35, said her five-year-old daughter had been asking to leave the house, so she decided to visit Jem for her daughter's haircut and grocery shopping. "There're very few people around. I was expecting more people, especially since it's dinner time," said Ms Mondal, who works in the oil and gas industry, adding that she typically visits both malls around twice a week prior to the closures. A shopper, who gave his name only as Ze, said he came to Jem to do grocery shopping at the FairPrice supermarket with his wife. "There're a lot fewer people today, perhaps because some of the shops are not open and the no dining-in rule takes away a lot of crowd," said the 37-year-old who works in a bank. "We always use the free hand sanitiser they put up everywhere in the mall and we do what we can to safeguard ourselves, so we think it's okay to come out." Mr Kaunt, who is from Myanmar and goes by one name, said he is less worried, as he had received his second Covid-19 vaccination jab a few weeks ago. He was waiting for his wife outside Jem's FairPrice supermarket with his daughter, aged four. Said the 42-year-old engineer: "I feel the community cases situation is more under control now, compared to when we had the circuit breaker last year, so that's why more people are relieved and feel safer to come out."

Organization Closed

• Marcell Lamont Jacobs surprises with Olympic 100m gold

Tokyo Olympic Games men's 100m final: European Indoor champion Marcell Lamont Jacobs from Italy shocked everyone by winning the Olympic 100m gold medal and setting his second European record of the day with 9.80.   Jacobs succeeded Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt, who won his third Olympic gold medal in Rio de Janeiro, who also clocked 9.80. Jacobs has become the first Italian sprinter to reach the 100m Olympic final. He is the first Italian to win a sprint competition since Pietro Mennea won the gold medal in the 200m in Moscow 1980. He clocked the fastest time in the men’s 100m by an athlete not from the USA or Jamaica.  Marcell Jacobs: “It’s a dream. It’s fantastic. Maybe tomorrow I can imagine what people are saying, but today is incredible. Being here together with Tamberi is something spectacular. I believe in him and I believed in myself. It’s crazy to succeed Usain Bolt as Olympic champion”.  Fred Kerley claimed the silver medal with his PB of 9.84 two years after finishing third in the 400m at the World Championships in Doha. André De Grasse from Canada won his second consecutive Olympic bronze medal in the 100m improving his PB to 9.89. Akani Simbine repeated his fourth place from five years ago in Rio de Janeiro in 9.93. Ronnie Baker and Su Bingtian dipped under the 10 seconds barrier clocking 9.95 and 9.98.  Kerley had won the first semifinal in 9.96 beating De Grasse (9.98). European 100m champion Zharnel Hughes took the win in the second semifinal with his seasonal best of 9.98 beating Enock Adegoke (10.00).  Jacobs had previously finished third in the semifinal in 9.84 improving the previous European record held by Francis Obikwelu and Jimmy Vicaut with 9.86. Su Bingtian from China won this semifinal breaking the Asian record with 9.83 to become the first Chinese sprinter to reach an Olympic 100m final. Baker finished second setting his PB with 9.83. Simbine clocked 9.90 to take the fourth spot behind Jacobs. 

Break historical records

Upper Peninsula miners' strike of 1865

Ore miners working on the Marquette Iron Range (located in the United States' Upper Peninsula of Michigan) went on strike in July 1865, shortly after the end of the American Civil War. They were put down by a naval detachment from the USS Michigan, using an improvised armored train, and later with an army detachment from Chicago. During the United States' Civil War, high demand meant the price of iron had significantly increased. Knowing this, the miners forced the mining companies to raise their wages in 1864. The problem was not solved, as the dockworkers, who were paid significantly less than the miners, struck for higher wages. Cleveland Iron Mining Company officials near the capital requested troops from Michigan's governor, believing that the war's demand for iron would override social concerns for the workers. They were correct; a United States Navy gunboat, Michigan, and a troop contingent were sent to the area. Their arrival was instrumental in quashing the strike. [1] The wartime demand quickly abated after the war's end in April 1865, and the many returning soldiers increased the labor pool. When combined, this meant that Cleveland and other nearby companies felt justified in announcing a wage cut on Saturday, July 1, 1865. The miners grudgingly accepted the cuts, but the dockworkers refused their wage cut, and the companies retreated for them only. This galvanized the miners, and 1500 to 2000 of them marched on the mines and the town of Marquette, looting, burning, and destroying equipment they came across. It was in this climate that Michigan's crew found when she sailed into Marquette's harbor on July 3, as part of a routine sweep of Lake Superior for Confederate activity. [2][A] The captain of Michigan, Lieutenant Commander Francis A. Roe, had fought through the war in various capacities, including directing a fight between his Sassacus and a Confederate ram, Albemarle. On appraising the situation, he quickly moved to end the strike. He mounted two of the ship’s guns on a railroad car, fitted it with metal to act as armor, and enlisted a steam engine to push it with a full landing party. All were armed and most were veterans of the war, as opposed to the miners, who had little to no combat experience. [4] He recounted the incident months later: They were told that twenty-four hours, and no more, would be allowed them, and if by that time they were not at work, and the ore loaded in the idle cars, that encampment would be stormed by shot and shell, and no questions would be asked or answered. There must be no more rioting, no more idleness, and no more threats. [5] After Michigan's departure, the miners struck again and were put back down by a returning Michigan and the 8th Veteran Reserve Corps, brought up by rail from Chicago. [6]

Strike

1968 Heathrow BKS Air Transport Airspeed Ambassador crash

On 3 July 1968 Airspeed Ambassador registration G-AMAD of BKS Air Transport crashed at Heathrow Airport, damaging two parked Trident airliners as it cartwheeled into the incomplete Heathrow Terminal 1, then under construction. Six of the eight people on board the Ambassador were killed, along with the eight racehorses being transported on it. [1] The crash was blamed on the failure of a flap-operating rod due to metal fatigue, resulting in asymmetrical lift. The Ambassador, construction number 5211,[2] had previously been British European Airways' Sir Francis Drake. It had recently been converted to a "horsebox" transport and was on a flight from Deauville, France, to Heathrow Airport. It was transporting eight racehorses belonging to businessman William Hill together with five grooms. As the aircraft was landing on Heathrow's runway 28R the left wing dropped, and the wing tip and left landing gear touched the grass adjacent to the runway. The crew tried to increase power to go-around and climb away, but the bank angle increased. The aircraft hit two parked empty British European Airways Hawker Siddeley Tridents, knocking the tail fin off one (G-ARPI) and slicing off the entire tail section of the other (G-ARPT). The Ambassador cartwheeled following the impact and slid upside down coming up against the ground floor of the terminal building where there was an explosion. [3] Six people on board the Ambassador died, including the flight crew and three of five grooms, along with all eight horses. The other two grooms were seriously injured as were two people on the ground. A further 29 people on the ground received slight injuries. Of the two Trident aircraft, G-ARPT was damaged beyond economic repair and G-ARPI was subsequently repaired. A Viscount (G-APKF) received slight damage. [4] The Viscount was also repaired. [5] All other Ambassadors were grounded pending the result of an inquiry. [3] The starboard rod from the aircraft was tested and found satisfactory but rods from some other Ambassadors showed signs of cracking and when tested failed in a similar manner to G-AMAD's port rod. The rods on aircraft were strengthened and shown to be capable of 37,000 hours flight time. The port (left) flap operating rod had failed due to metal fatigue. While the mechanism had failed, the compensating mechanism between the two sets of flaps remained intact. The port flaps had retracted but the compensator caused the starboard ones to extend further. The resulting asymmetry of lift resulted in the roll to port. The pilot probably tried to overshoot and set the flaps to the correct 10 degrees, but due to the mechanism design this was not sufficient to cause the starboard flaps to retract (which would have taken 25 seconds in any event). The Department of Transport report concluded that whatever the pilot's actions, it was "doubtful" whether an accident could have been avoided. After the accident all Ambassadors were fitted with steel reinforcements to the flap operating rods. [1]

Air crash

Celebrity Couples Who’ve Split Amid the Coronavirus Quarantine

Not all celebrity couples were able to outlast the coronavirus quarantine and remain an item. Stars such as Colton Underwood and Cassie Randolph and Julianne Hough and Brooks Laich have gone their separate ways amid the health crisis. The Bachelor’s Underwood and Randolph called it quits in May 2020 after making it through the former football player testing positive for COVID-19 in March and quarantining with Randolph’s family as he recovered. “It’s been a crazy few months to say the least, Cass and I have been doing a lot of self-reflecting,” the former Bachelor wrote via Instagram on May 29. “Sometimes people are just meant to be friends – and that’s okay. We both have grown immensely and been through so much together – so this isn’t the end of our story, it’s the start of a whole new chapter for us.” The Orange County native commented on Underwood’s announcement with two red heart emojis and then shared her own tribute to their relationship. “I love Colton very much and have an enormous amount of respect for him,” she wrote. “We have both learned and grown so much these past couple years, and will always have each others back. Always.” Hough and Laich announced their split on May 29 after two years of marriage, while quarantining in two different states. “We have lovingly and carefully taken the time we have needed to arrive at our decision to separate,” the pair said in a joint statement. “We share an abundance of love and respect for one another and will continue to lead with our hearts from that place. We kindly request your compassion and respect for our privacy moving forward.” Ahead of their breakup, Us Weekly exclusively reported on April 17 that the Dancing With the Stars judge and former hockey player were “not doing well.” Although they started quarantine together in March, by April, Laich was in Idaho, while Hough was in L.A. Flipping Out alum Jeff Lewis announced his split from boyfriend Scott Anderson on May 4, during his SiriusXM show, Jeff Lewis Live, noting the pressures that were brought on during the pandemic. “The last eight weeks has been kind of rough,” he explained the time. “He’s had a lot of anxiety, a lot of frustration, and it got to a point where I felt that he was hypercritical of me. It was a lot of negativity and always complaining.” Lewis continued: “We speak two different languages. And for me, I need more affirmation and acknowledgment and those kinds of things once in a while. The beating me up and the hypercriticism, it just became suffocating to me.”

Famous Person - Divorce

2011 Djiboutian protests

The 2011 Djiboutian protests were widespread demonstrations and riots that took place between January and March 2011 in Djibouti, situated in the Horn of Africa. A member of the Arab League, the protests in Djibouti showed a clear influence from the concurrent Arab Spring protests in North Africa and the Arabian peninsula. The demonstrations ended after mass arrests[1] and the barring of international observers. [2][3] President of Djibouti Ismail Omar Guelleh has been in office since 1999, but his government has been in power for 34 years. Recently, Guelleh changed the constitution so that he could have a third term in office. This proved unpopular with the Djiboutian population. [4] These protests occurred in the months leading up to the 2011 Djiboutian presidential election. On January 25, thousands of people turned out to protest in Djibouti City. Similar to the events on January 28, only smaller. 300 people gathered in a square in the capital, Djibouti. On February 18, thousands rallied against the president, gathering at a stadium with the intention of staying there until their demands were met. However, the demonstration escalated into clashes after dusk, as police used batons and tear gas against stone-throwing protesters. Officials from the Union for Democratic Change, an umbrella group of three opposition parties, gave speeches at the demonstration calling for Guelleh to step down. [5] On February 19, clashes were reported to be intensifying. [6] Anti-government protestors clashed with security forces 24 hours after hundreds of demonstrators demanding the president step down hurled stones at riot police who fired back with tear gas. At least one policeman was killed, and sources said one protester had also been killed. [7] The protest leaders were arrested[8] The next day, Djiboutian authorities released three opposition leaders as opponents of President Ismail Guelleh clashed with police. [9] Leaders of the United Sun Nations, opposition parties and protest organisers were set to meet on February 24 to plan mass protests for the following day. Police acting on behalf of Gulleh arrested 300 organisers during and after the mass protests on February 18, with reports of torture being used to sedate the activists. After the failure of the leaders to turn up on February 24, opposition leader Bourhan Mohammed Ali stated he feared the protests had lost momentum. [1] Protests had been planned for March 4, but it remained to be seen if the Djiboutians would be able to coordinate themselves without the 300 arrested leaders. [1] On March 3, Djibouti ordered its opposition party to cancel its anti-government protests which were to be held on March 4, 2011 due to a previous rally a month earlier turning violent. Mohammed Daoud, head of the opposition Djibouti Party for Development, said that protests will occur as scheduled. [10] On the 4th soldiers and police filled the streets to prevent the planned demonstration blocking the route to the city's main stadium where they were to have taken place and preventing the protest. [4] A protest was planned for March 11, but security forces scuppered the protest and detained 4 opposition leaders. [11] On February 9, the President of the Djibouti League of Human Rights was arrested. [3] On March 21, US election monitors were expelled from the country, whose task would have been to observe the April 2011 presidential election. [2] The United Kingdom's Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned against travel to Djibouti. [12]

Protest_Online Condemnation

Pier Street crash: One dead, several taken to hospital after major crash in CBD

A man believed to be in his 70s is dead and several people were rushed to hospital after a car ploughed through alfresco seating on Pier Street in Perth’s CBD on Friday night. It is understood the initial crash was between a white Toyota Corolla and a black SUV just before 6.30pm — with the collision then impacting pedestrians and several other cars outside My Place Bar and Restaurant. At least four vehicles were hit during the horrifying incident — with one flipped onto its roof — in the trail of destruction. It is understood the man who died was a bystander on the street. The driver of one of the cars, who is in his 60s, is being treated in hospital and assisting police with enquiries. A 41-year-old man remains in Fiona Stanley Hospital in a serious condition. Four other men, believed to be in their 20s, were also taken to hospital with injuries. Two have now been discharged. Scott Allpress was walking past Pier Street when the crash happened. “It was carnage, I was walking down the street when I just saw this car flying past me,” Mr Allpress said. “He then just lost it and crashed through dining tables and chairs of a restaurant and smashed into other cars. “As I was walking through it just looked like they were shooting a movie it was that bad … it just didn’t seem real.” Another witness told The West Australian all he heard was people screaming and loud bangs as he was walking down Hay Street. “People were yelling and screaming and one person was shouting, ‘My leg, my leg.’ It was horrific,” the witness said. “Everyone just started running and this car was upside down on the road. It lost its tyre and everything. “It was carnage. Absolute carnage. The car was flying so fast through the street.” Another witness told The West he was sitting at the My Place Bar and Restaurant moments before the impact of the crash. He reports it was a white car that was travelling the wrong way down Pier street when it collided with the black four-wheel drive. “The car was driving and it was clearly lost or dumb. It ran through all the pedestrians sitting at the bar and the black car crash into it,” he said. He also reported the black Toyota was travelling “extremely fast” and had “run through a red light.” DFES have blocked off both sides to Pier Street, with hotel guests staying at the Seasons of Perth unable to enter the hotel until the crash site is cleared. Owner of the Ikhwan Cafe, which is several doors down from the My Place bar, said she heard several loud bangs then someone yelling “call an ambulance”. “I walked out and there was a person getting CPR on the floor, with 3-4 other people on the floor as well. They were all diners at the bar,” she said. “The car was flying, all my customers said he was going so fast and then rolled several times.” The cafe owner said the driver looked to be a man and that “a few other people were in the car with him.” “People just started running to help. The driver of the car looked ok, there were people trying to talk to him. Other people were very badly injured but, the car hit them before it rolled,” she said. Sign up for our emails

Road Crash

1847 Nagano earthquake

The 1847 Nagano earthquake (善光寺地震, Zenkōji jishin) occurred at about 21:30 local time on 8 May. It had a magnitude of 7.4 on the surface wave magnitude scale. It caused the destruction of many houses in Nagano and at least 8,600 people were killed. The earthquake triggered many landslides, the largest of which dammed the Sai River (a tributary of the Shinano River). 19 days later, the failure of this earthquake dam caused a flood that destroyed many more houses and killed a further 35 people. [2] During the middle of the Miocene period Japan was affected by the opening of the Sea of Japan as a back-arc basin in response to continuing subduction of the Pacific Plate. This period of extensional tectonics caused the development of rift basins on the western side of Honshu, including the northern part of the Fossa Magna. When the back-arc spreading stopped during the late Miocene, the rifted area started to shorten and the basins became inverted. [3] The western margin of the Nagano Basin, part of the Fossa Magna, is formed by an active reverse fault zone, the West Nagano Basin Fault. The 1847 earthquake was caused by rupture on part of this fault zone. [4] The earthquake triggered a large number of landslides, due mainly the relatively unconsolidated Miocene sediments. At least seven of these formed dams on rivers in the surrounding area. The largest of these dams was formed at the foot of Mount Iwakura from a landslide with an estimated volume of 20 million cubic metres that blocked the Sai River. The water held back by the dam eventually broke through 19 days after the earthquake, flooding a large area downstream from the dam. [5]

Earthquakes

Celebrity couples with a lucky wedding anniversary

What do married showbiz couples Sharon Cuneta and Kiko Pangilinan; Lucy Torres and Richard Gomez; and Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo have in common? They all tied the knot on April 28, which proves to be a lucky date for all three happy couples who have stayed strong despite facing controversies and adversities. After a few high profile relationships, Megastar Sharon Cuneta met lawyer-turned-politician, Senator Francis "Kiko" Pangilinan, who became her source of strength and perfect partner. They tied the knot on April 28, 1996. Richard Gomez and Lucy Torres had a fairytale romance that started out from a shampoo commercial they both starred in. Lucy had a crush on Richard, and the actor proved himself to be persistent and wooed the Leyte beauty until they tied the knot in 1998. Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo were from different backgrounds and lifestyles when they met, who would've thought the teleserye princess and the conyo cutie would fall in love with each other after starring in a drama and would eventually marry in 2009? Sharon Cuneta and Kiko Pangilinan first met in December 1993, they later got married in 1996 and have two daughters, Frankie and Miel, and an adopted son named Miguel. Sharon has a daughter, KC Concepcion, from her previous marriage with actor Gabby Concepcion. Their family was complete for Christmas 2020. Despite rumors of plans on ending their marriage circulated in 2017, the couple stayed together and worked on their marriage. Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo's love story started in 2004, they got married in 2009. The two first met in 2004 on the set of an action-fantasy series. Judy Ann Santos and Ryan Agoncillo have been blessed with an adopted daughter Yohan, and kids Lucho and Luna.

Famous Person - Marriage

Inside the Northern Bank robbery: ‘I was waiting for the bullet in the back of the head’

We will send you a quick reminder in the future, in case you change your mind. £26.5 million was stolen in the 2004 raid For those underwhelmed by the Line of Duty finale, Heist: The Northern Bank Robbery (BBC One, 9pm) is a Belfast-set mystery with a far more morally ambivalent denouement. It’s brimming with unlikely twists and features a cast of dozens. The only problem is here the villains are all too real. Several moments chill the blood. These include recordings of a sobbing Karyn McMullan, the wife of a Northern Bank assistant manager, who was kidnapped and left to fear for her life during the £26.5 million raid in December 2004. Viewers may also experience a shudder at footage of IRA planner and enforcer, Bobby Storey, widely believed to have masterminded the break-in, bellowing “we ain’t gone away you know”. Reporters Darragh MacIntyre and Sam McBride, political editor of the Belfast News Letter, set out in easily-digestible detail the case for Provisional IRA involvement in the heist. They also convey the sheer horror McMullan went through during the 24 hours she was held hostage (her mouth was sealed; she feared she would be sexually assaulted and then shot in the woods). However, MacIntyre and McBride get lost in the weeds slightly chronicling the aftermath of the hold-up. With authorities in the North cleverly withdrawing all Northern Bank notes from circulation, the haul was rendered more or less worthless. A bin full of half-burned notes was later discovered in Cork and the Garda swoop. This, alas, is where the sheer accumulation of information becomes overwhelming, so that it’s hard to keep track of who was arrested and on what charges. What really stands out is the sheer bungling. Outfoxed by the PSNI, the IRA couldn’t dispose of the the bulk of the cash, while the outcry over the robbery almost derailed the peace process. Gerry Adams is shown sifting in his seat as, of all people, American politician John McCain, upbraids the IRA for its criminality. “Adams and McGuinness did ultimately want the IRA to go away,” says former IRA prisoner Anthony McIntyre. “But at the time of their choosing. They [saw] [the IRA] as a valuable bargaining tool.” “The brains behind these activities was Bobby Storey,” adds author Brian Feeney. “That is generally acknowledged by security forces, army intelligence, the lot.” As if reading viewers’ minds, MacIntyre and McBride next cut to footage of senior Republicans attending a commemoration to mark Storey’s death in Belfast last year. They are flanked by activists wearing matching uniforms of black trousers and white shirts. MacIntyre and McBride have assembled a impressive line-up of interviewees including former Taoiseach Bertie Ahern,and ex-PSNI Chief Constable Hugh Orde. Their film paints a dispiriting portrait of the criminality that inevitably flows from terrorism. That is supported by Ahern’s conclusion that the cash was to pay off IRA men. “The views of those who might have known, that I ever asked, told me that it was as simple or complicated as this, that it was the pension fund … for guys who were pulling away from IRA activities.” But the words that cut to the quick are those of the kidnapped Karyn McMullan, as MacIntyre quotes a statement she later gave in court. “For hours I thought they were going to kill me,” she said. “I was waiting for the bullet in the back of the head. I asked him to get my body back to my family.”

Bank Robbery

US formally withdraws from nuclear treaty with Russia and prepares to test new missile

The United States formally withdrew from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty with Russia Friday, as the US military prepares to test a new non-nuclear mobile-launched cruise missile developed specifically to challenge Moscow in Europe, according to a senior US defense official. The US withdrawal puts an end to a landmark arms control pact that has limited the development of ground-based missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500 kilometers and is sparking fears of a new arms race. "Russia is solely responsible for the treaty's demise," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said in a statement Friday announcing the US' formal withdrawal from the Cold-War era nuclear treaty. Pompeo said, "Russia failed to return to full and verified compliance through the destruction of its noncompliant missile system." NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told CNN's Hala Gorani that the treaty's end is a "serious setback." 'A bad day' "The fact that we don't have the INF Treaty anymore, the fact that the Russians over the years have deployed new missiles, which can reach European cities within minutes, which are hard to detect, are mobile and are nuclear capable, and therefore reduce the threshold of any potential use of nuclear weapons in an armed conflict -- of course that's a bad day for all of us who believe in arms control and stability in Europe," Stoltenberg said. "At the same time, NATO is there to protect all our allies and we will take the necessary measures to retain credible defense," he added. The new US missile test, which CNN reported Thursday , is expected to take place in the next few weeks and will essentially be the Trump administration's answer to Russia's years-long non-compliance with the INF treaty, the senior US defense official said. A senior administration official told reporters that the US will be testing the cruise missiles that were forbidden by the INF treaty because "Russia cannot maintain military advantage," but claimed that it will take years for the US to deploy those weapons. Deployment "We are literally years away before we would be at a point where we would talk about basing of any particular capability. Because of our steadfast adherence to the treaty over 32 years, we are barely, after almost a year, at a point where we are contemplating initial flight tests," explained the senior administration official, noting that the US would only look at deploying conventional weapons, not nuclear weapons. But the Pentagon said in March that this ground launched missile could be ready for deployment within 18 months. The administration's budget request for fiscal year 2020, released in February, included $96 million for continued research and development on INF range missile systems. And arms control experts say it's not difficult to convert existing air- or sea-based systems into the ground-based missile the Pentagon plans to test. "It is not a significant engineering task," said Jon Wolfsthal, director of the Nuclear Crisis Group and a former nuclear expert for the National Security Council under the Obama administration. "It's well within the capability of major defense contractors and the army to pull off." Clock's ticking on one of world's most important nuclear treaties. A dangerous arms race may be next The end of the INF pact leaves the US and Russia with just one nuclear arms agreement, the New START Treaty, which governs strategic nuclear weapons and delivery systems for each side. If New START isn't renewed or extended by 2021, the world's two largest nuclear powers would have no limits on their arsenals for the first time in decades. President Donald Trump's ambivalent comments about New START and national security advisor John Bolton's well-known dislike for arms control treaties have given rise to deep concern about a new nuclear arms race. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told reporters Thursday that the INF Treaty's expiry means "the world will lose an invaluable brake on nuclear war. This will likely heighten, not reduce, the threat posed by ballistic missiles." He urged the US and Russia to "urgently seek agreement on a new common path for international arms control." Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, a former NATO supreme allied commander, said on CNN "New Day" that the termination of the treaty also marks "one more ratchet up on the movement towards a more adversarial relationship with Russia." But he added that the US "really didn't have a choice" because the treaty wasn't effective. 'A competition with nuclear arms' "We're going into a new competition, a military competition, including a competition with nuclear arms against development that Russia, and to some extent, China are making," Clark said. "No one wants to do this. It's expensive, it's dangerous, but it's necessary if we're going to maintain our security in an uncertain world." The Trump administration casts the forthcoming test of the new ground-based missiles as necessary to US national security, even as it seeks to tamp down any suggestion that the US is triggering an arms race, a claim that's met with skepticism in the arms control community. When asked if the US will commit to maintaining some kind of arms control despite this treaty being defunct, the official largely put the onus on Russia. "I can't speak for the Russian federation so I can't promise that they will be amenable to additional arms control," the official said. "I can only tell you that the US, from the President on down, is interested in finding an effective arms control solution." On Friday, Russia said it is inviting the US and NATO to join them in declaring a moratorium on deployment of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles. 'Not credible' "We invited the US and other NATO countries to assess the possibility of declaring the same moratorium on deploying intermediate-range and shorter-range equipment as we have, the same moratorium Vladimir Putin declared, saying that Russia will refrain from deploying these systems when we acquire them unless the American equipment is deployed in certain regions," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said, Russian state news agency TASS reported. Stoltenberg on Friday dismissed Russia's offer of a moratorium as "not credible," because Russia has been deploying missiles for years. "There is zero credibility in offering a moratorium on missiles they are already deploying," he said. "There are no new US missiles, no new NATO missiles in Europe but there are more and more Russian missiles," Stoltenberg said in a press conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels. International allies, including the United Kingdom, emphasized their support for the US' move to withdraw from the INF treaty. NATO allies said in a statement that Russia remains in violation of the INF Treaty, "despite years of U.S. and Allied engagement," adding that they fully support the US' decision. U.S. President Donald Trump and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (L) talk to reporters in the Oval Office at the White House April 02, 2019 in Washington, DC. NATO added that over the past six months Russia had a "final opportunity" to honor the treaty but failed. UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said Russia caused the INF Treaty collapse, tweeting , "Their contempt for the rules based international system threatens European security." The senior US defense official said that the US has long had evidence that Russia has developed, tested and fielded "multiple battalions" of non-INF compliant cruise and ballistic missiles. The US believes the deployments are "militarily significant" because the missiles are mobile, allowing Moscow to move them rapidly and making it difficult for the US to track them. The Russian missiles use solid fuel, which also means they can be readied in a very short time frame to be fired at targets, especially in western Europe. Alexandra Bell, senior policy director at the non-partisan Center for Arms Control & Non-Proliferation, explains that "with this type of missile there's very short warning, attacks are harder to spot by radar, so it's just more destabilizing. They made the situation in Europe more dangerous." Russian targets The Pentagon has been working on the new missile system's very initial phases, which will lead to the first test in the coming weeks, the defense official said. The official emphasized there is no formal program yet to develop the missile, because the INF treaty has been in effect. The US also has yet to formally discuss and commit to firm basing options, the defense official said. The concept, the official said, would be to position the missiles in militarily advantageous positions from which they could fire past Russian defenses and target ports, military bases or critical infrastructure. But no NATO member "has said it would be willing to host new US intermediate range missiles," Kingston Reif, director for disarmament and threat reduction policy at the Arms Control Association. Indeed, several NATO members, including Poland, have made clear that any deployment of the missiles in Europe would have to be approved by all NATO members. Stoltenberg has emphasized that NATO will respond to the end of the INF Treaty as an alliance and would not be amenable to US missile deployments on its border. "What we will do will be measured, it will be coordinated as a NATO family, no bilateral arrangements, but NATO as an alliance," Stoltenberg said last month. "We will not mirror what Russia is doing, meaning that we will not deploy missiles," the NATO chief said.

Tear Up Agreement

2000 UEFA Cup Final riots

British hooligan firms The 2000 UEFA Cup Final Riots, also known as the Battle of Copenhagen,[1] were a series of riots in City Hall Square, Copenhagen, Denmark between fans of English football team Arsenal and Turkish team Galatasaray around the 2000 UEFA Cup Final on 17 May 2000. Four people were stabbed in the scuffles, which also involved fans from other clubs and were viewed by the media as part of a retaliation for the killing of two Leeds United fans by Galatasaray supporters the month before. The events of the day started early in the morning when skirmishes broke out in a bar, which led to an Arsenal fan being stabbed. Later in the day, Galatasaray fans occupied City Hall Square before heading towards Arsenal fans in bars nearby. The Galatasaray fans were later attacked from behind by members of British hooligan firms seeking revenge for the Istanbul stabbings. The police had prior warning of potential trouble and deployed 2,000 officers to the area, yet they were unable to control the riot until they fired tear gas. This led to 19 injuries, including 4 stabbings, and 60 arrests with similar events occurring in England and Turkey in the aftermath of the riots. Football authorities condemned the riots and threatened to expel national football teams from European competition if such events happened again. The Danish police were also criticized for their mishandling of the riots. Arsenal qualified for the final by defeating French club Lens in their semi-final. Galatasaray beat English team Leeds United but their matches were marred by violence: two Leeds United fans were stabbed to death before their semi-final first leg at Galatasaray's Ali Sami Yen Stadium in Istanbul on 6 April 2000. [2] The events happened at 22:00 in Istanbul's Taksim Square during a fight between Leeds fans and Galatasaray fans. [3] Leeds fans had been drinking in bars reportedly taunting local people and Turkish police intervened to stop fights breaking out. There were reports that a Galatasaray fan had run to a telephone to call for support when he saw Leeds fans arriving. Galatasaray fans entered the area shortly afterwards which precipitated a fight between the two sets of supporters. This led to the two Leeds fans being stabbed. [4] It was not clear how the fight started, with reports of it either being started by Leeds fans throwing beer glasses and insulting the Turkish flag,[5] or being started by Galatasaray fans throwing chairs. [4] Police arrested Ali Umit Demir and three other men for the stabbings. [6] Demir was later found guilty of murder and was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment, but released in 2004. [5] As a result of the stabbings, Leeds United banned Galatasaray fans from attending the second leg at Elland Road, claiming that the safety of fans could not be guaranteed. [7] The ban was supported by UEFA and only 80 tickets were issued to Galatasaray for officials and representatives of the Turkish government. [8] The stabbings caused anger throughout the United Kingdom, and subsequently members of Arsenal's hooligan firms The Herd and The Gooners,[9] wanted to avenge the deaths of the Leeds fans, and telephoned other British hooligan firms, inviting them to join them in Copenhagen to attack Galatasaray fans. [10] It was reported that members of Leeds United's Leeds United Service Crew[11] and Chelsea's Chelsea Headhunters, along with hooligans supporting Rangers, Cardiff City and Swansea City all travelled to Denmark to join Arsenal fans in attacks on Galatasaray fans. [10][12] This led to the final being considered "high risk"; 2,000 members of the Danish police were assigned to the game, with assistance from members of British and Turkish police forces. [13] On the Wednesday at 1:00, Galatasaray fans attacked a bar in Strøget in Copenhagen, where some Arsenal fans were located. [14] The Arsenal fans left the bar to confront the Galatasaray fans, which led to a fight lasting for an hour before riot police managed to control it and arrested four Britons and four Turks. [15] In the fight, Paul Dineen, an Arsenal fan, was stabbed, leading to Arsenal offering fans refunds if they did not want to fly to the game. [16] Dineen was released from hospital later in the day and attended the match as a guest of the Arsenal directors. [17] Throughout the day large numbers of fans, both English and Turkish, were seen throughout the city and at the airport. [18] Later, large numbers of Galatasaray fans congregated in Copenhagen's City Hall Square, raising the Turkish flag in the square. [18] Arsenal fans congregated in nearby bars. Galatasaray fans attempted to provoke the Arsenal fans in the bars, and the two sides began chanting at each other until bottles were thrown from both sides around 16:00. [19] The Danish police then moved in to separate the fans, and moved the Galatasaray fans back towards the square. [20] Then, in a calculated attack, approximately 500 Arsenal fans[19] attacked from the main road behind the Galatasaray fans. This caused a severe riot in the city square, with several restaurant facilities used by fans to fight each other, with iron bars and knives also being used. [21] This lasted 20 minutes[19] before the Danish police attempted to break up the melee with dogs[22] and tear gas. [23] The violence, which included fans from other English clubs[24] and Turks living in Denmark,[25] lasted for 45 minutes. [26] There were further clashes at the airport the day after the game. [27] At Parken Stadium, where the final was to be played, the police erected iron fencing outside to separate the Arsenal and Galatasaray fans as a precaution. UEFA also requested that fences be put up around the perimeter of the pitch. [22] The riots did not spread to the stadium, although there was an attempt to pull down the fences by fans heading towards the Arsenal area of the stadium before police stopped them. [20] After the match, which Galatasaray won 4–1 on penalties, approximately 300 Arsenal fans in the Finsbury Park area of Islington in London attacked Turkish restaurants and businesses, with bottles being used to break windows. They then broke into an apartment building to threaten Kosovan refugees with a knife, mistakenly believing them to be Turkish. Six people were arrested and three Metropolitan Police officers were injured. [28] In Turkey, nine people were accidentally shot and injured by Galatasaray fans firing guns in celebration despite police warning them not to. [29] In all, four people were stabbed during the riots: two English, one Turkish and one Dutch fan. [30] A Danish police officer[22] and a Turkish cameraman were also injured in the riots. [30] In total, nineteen people were injured and sixty people were arrested,[27] with 15 of the arrested being subsequently banned from attending Euro 2000. [31] Nineteen of the arrested were British, thirty-six were Turkish and the rest of the arrested included people from Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands. [25] The British fans were later released without charge but were forbidden from returning to Denmark.

Riot

Balochistan’s mines

Pakistani volunteers and mine workers shift an injured worker on a stretcher upon arrival at a hospital in Quetta, Pakistan. File | Photo Credit: AP Four coal miners suffocated to death on Tuesday after inhaling poisonous gas in a coal mine in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province. Balochistan’s Mines and Minerals Chief Inspector Abdul Ghani said that bodies of the deceased, who belonged to Zhob district of the province, have been retrieved after a rescue operation. “The miners had gone into a mine in Chamalang and suffocated to death after inhaling poisonous gas," he said, adding that the incident took place in the Duki area of the province. Coal miners face hazardous working conditions in coal mines in the province and in several incidents in the past, miners have died in explosions due to leakage of methane, suffocation, burns or even in incidents of roof collapse. There have also been incidents where workers from other provinces have been killed in targeted attacks by terrorists. Pakistan's Central Mines Labour Federation Secretary General Sultan Khan said that laws regarding safety for mine workers were not implemented in mines. He said that as many as 90 people have been killed in incidents in different mines across Balochistan this year. Six workers were found dead in March after they got trapped inside a coal mine in Bolan district when its roof collapsed. In another incident in the same month, seven miners were killed in a blast at a coal mine in Harnai which was caused by a build-up of methane gas.

Mine Collapses

00

Are wildfires affecting you? Send your photos and videos to CNN iReport, but please stay safe. Boulder, Colorado (CNN) -- Cloud cover, cooler temperatures and a little bit of rain assisted firefighters battling a wildfire west of Boulder, Colorado, authorities said Wednesday. Four people remained unaccounted for, authorities said at a late afternoon press conference. "We can hope [weather factors] will be a positive influence on helping firefighters getting some more work done," said spokeswoman Laura McConnell of the Rocky Mountain Incident Management Team Authorities initially had reports that 20 people were missing, said Sarah Huntley, a spokeswoman for Boulder's Office of Emergency Management. Sixteen of them were subsequently located. Of those still missing, some "were people who did not evacuate," Boulder County Sheriff's Office Cmdr. Rick Brough said. Police were contacting their relatives and were also conducting welfare checks at their homes, Brough said. About 140 structures, which includes residences and other buildings, were destroyed, Brough said. Twenty-four were damaged. Officials said they had no containment information on the fire and did not yet know its cause. Some residents were concerned they couldn't check on their homes Wednesday, but Brough said it was too risky too allow travel into the area. "We have active fire, he said. "We can't let people up yet." Officials have established an emergency shelter and victim assistance center. The list of damaged homes was posted online Tuesday night. The list will be added to as authorities continue to assess damage left by the blaze. "These addresses were determined from only 5 to 10 percent of the burned area, as that is the only area that could be safely surveyed on Tuesday," the list said. An infrared flight allowed authorities to better map the fire, and its size has shrunk from the 7,100 acres reported earlier to 6,388 acres, said McConnell. Twenty-four engines and 300 firefighters were on scene Wednesday, and several aircraft were also being used to battle the blaze, she said. A community meeting is planned for Wednesday night, Brough said. Brough said Tuesday night that flames had spread throughout the Fourmile Canyon area west of the city. After an anxious day, evacuee Paul Gatza of Sunshine learned late Tuesday that his house had been spared. "Fortunately, we just got visual confirmation ... that we're still standing for one more night, and [Wednesday] will be another new, long day," he said. "It's a matter of trying to gain little pieces of information from firefighters and firefighters' spouses, and whoever else we can get reliable news from." Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter declared a state of emergency Tuesday as the size of the wildfire more than doubled. Ritter said the state was throwing $5 million into the battle to save homes and forests in the canyon. "It is important right now for people who've been evacuated to just be patient," Ritter said after a tour of the area. "This is a very volatile situation, it would be fair to say. There is a fire line. They are doing all they can to contain the fire line. At the same time, there are a fair number of embers that are also starting smaller fires." Ritter said he saw "entire hillsides" burned by the flames, along with numerous structures. "It's not safe for people to return to their homes, because as we drove up there, you go from a place that is relatively safe, and then suddenly, you'd see a spot fire burning on the side of the road," he said. Boulder County Sheriff Joe Pelle accompanied the governor on his tour of the area and said the fire had "literally exhausted our local resources and management team." "But we have a good and healthy amount of people in place now learning everything they need to know about the fire," he said. The sheriff said Tuesday his department was investigating a report that the fire may have started when a car hit and ruptured a propane tank. "That's the best information I have right now, but that's part of what that investigative team is doing for me today, is trying to lock all that down and confirm it," he said. Pelle said that authorities had evacuated 70 subdivisions and made nearly 8,000 notifications. No injuries have been reported.

Fire

Update: Last Concert of Stern Grove Season Canceled After Water Main Break

A water main break at Stern Grove has closed the area "until further notice," and the ensuing water damage has led to the cancellation of the final Sunday concert of the Stern Grove season this weekend. Tower of Power fans, we feel you. A video posted to Twitter Monday showed an erupting geyser of water at least 30 feet tall, and this apparently flooded Stern Grove to the point of closure to the public. Reportedly, more than 700,000 gallons of water spilled into the Stern Grove park, sending rivers of mud into the stage, seating, and backstage areas of the annual festival (see photos below). Tragic. Water gushing uncontrollably for hours in San Francisco. Stern Grove is flooded. And then there’s the CA drought pic.twitter.com/vtc7HJw8VZ The Rec & Parks Department tweeted Tuesday that both Stern Grove and Pine Lake are closed until further notice due to the ruptured water main. Reminder: Stern Grove and Pine Lake remain closed until further notice due to yesterday’s ruptured water main. Stay tuned for when we are able to reopen the park. pic.twitter.com/EgXz4kz0WO As the Chronicle reports, crews from the Public Works department and Public Utilities Commission (PUC) have been working on the problem, and the PUC tweeted on Monday about an "air valve" that was in poor condition and needed repair — but nothing about the water main. It's not entirely clear whether the work at the site caused the geyser, or if this was just a symptom of another problem they discovered while working. When asked by an SF resident if this was responsible for low water pressure elsewhere in the city, the PUC seemed to confirm that it was, advising anyone who sees brown in their tap water to just let the tap run for a bit — drought be damned. Today our crews were performing regular maintenance work on an air valve on a large pipeline at 22nd Ave & Sloat. Our crews discovered the existing air valve was in poor condition & had to be repaired. We are currently working to resolve the issue. Update: Our crews are still working to fix the pipeline. They are emptying the pipeline of water & since the pipe is large, this is taking longer than normal. The pipe has to be free of water before they can fix it. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Oakland's legendary Tower of Power was slated to perform on Sunday along with legendary Oakland rapper Too $hort, and as of Wednesday afternoon, the Stern Grove Festival announced that there will be no final Sunday concert. In a release, a rep for the festival explained that this weekend's Big Picnic fundraiser and grand finale to the 84th Stern Grove concert season had to be canceled because "the public park has recently experienced such extensive damage that the Festival grounds are now unsafe and unusable for any events in the immediate future." "We are devastated to announce the sudden cancellation of our season finale and annual fundraiser with Tower of Power and Too $hort," said festival Executive Director Bob Fiedler in a statement. "This was definitely one of our most highly anticipated concerts of an incredible season, but the damage is too severe to move forward safely at this time. We are grateful that no one was hurt, and we are proud to have overcome so many challenges this year to have presented nine exceptional concerts for more than 50,000 people. We look forward to restoring the Grove and being able to welcome the community back next year.” Photos below show some of the mud and damage. Fans of the festival are being told to look out for two upcoming one-hour specials on KPIX/CBS SF with highlights from this concert season, which are set to be announced in the coming days. If you want to help by donating to the non-profit festival, you can do so here, or by texting "sterngrove" to 56512. The big Lizzo and Tame Impala party will also accept proof of a negative COVID-19 test, but the test has to be taken on certain, specific days leading up to the Halloween weekend event. Sonya and Dell Curry, the NBA parent power couple who raised Steph, Seth, and Sydel Curry, announced Monday that they are divorcing after 33 years. But accusations of extramarital affairs on both sides are making this all sound less than amicable.

Organization Closed

Viasa Flight 897 crash

Viasa Flight 897 was an international scheduled Rome–Madrid–Lisbon–Santa Maria–Caracas[nb 1] passenger service that crashed into the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Portugal on 30 May 1961, shortly after takeoff from Portela Airport. There were no survivors among the 61 occupants of the aircraft. [1] Named Fridtjof Nansen, the aircraft involved in the accident was a Douglas DC-8-53, registration PH-DCL, owned by KLM and operated on Viasa's behalf. [2] With constructor's number 45615/131, the airframe was the newest one of the type in KLM's fleet at the time the accident took place; it had accumulated 209 flight hours. The crash of Viasa Flight 897 occurred on the third leg of a trip that originated in Rome, Italy, and was scheduled to conclude in Caracas, Venezuela. Intermediate stops were to be made in Madrid, Spain, Lisbon, and on Santa Maria Island. At the time the airliner lifted off from Lisbon at 01:15 UTC, the nighttime sky had a cloud base of 3,700 feet (1,100 m). A few minutes after take off the DC-8 entered a spiral dive to the left shortly after sending two short messages to Air Traffic Control. The pilot over-corrected to the right and the aircraft struck the sea with a pitch angle of approximately 25° nose down. The cause for the crash of Viasa Flight 897 was never determined by either Portuguese or Dutch authorities. The official report out of Portugal concluded "Notwithstanding a very thorough, time-consuming investigation, in which many authorities and experts co-operated, it was not possible to establish a probable cause of the accident." The Netherlands, as state of registry for the aircraft, commented: "Though there are no direct indications in this respect, the Board regards it as possible that the accident was due to the pilot or pilots being misled by instrument failure, in particular of the artificial horizon, or to the pilot having been distracted, so that a serious deviation from the normal flight path was not discovered in time." At the time it occurred, Flight 897 was the third fatal crash of a big jetliner since they were introduced into service in 1958. [2] It was the worst civilian aviation incident ever to take place in Portugal until the crash of TAP Air Portugal Flight 425 in 1977.

Air crash

Italy locust invasion: Europe panic as worst swarm for 70 years hits continent

In a situation reminiscent of a biblical plague, the insects have stripped large areas of the island's agricultural regions of crops, in what the World Bank has already been branded the most serious such invasion the world has faced in 70 years. The epicentre is formed by the municipalities of Orani, Ottana and Bolotana in the Tirso valley, with insects having arrived from the Middle East and Africa, where 23 countries have experienced similar problems. Ambrogio Guiso, President of Reclamation Consortium of central Sardinia said roughly 13 thousand hectares of land had been affected. He added: "We ask for the immediate establishment of a control room, so that the locusts problem can be tackled with preventive actions. "We think that in concert with the other bodies in charge and with the coordination of the Region, concluded Guiso, an important preventive work can be done, with actions that must start now." Current damages must be compensated and preventive action has taken place to prevent the phenomenon from happening again in the next few years Franco Saba, Mayor of Ottana Farmers have limited options when it comes to mitigating the damage caused by the vast numbers of locusts, other than burning fields to destroy the pests. Franco Saba, Mayor of Ottana, said: "Current damages must be compensated and preventive action has taken place to prevent the phenomenon from happening again in the next few years." With the situation still unfolding, the cost of the damage was still unfolding - but Mr Saba suggested it would run into millions of euros. JUST IN: 'How dare they?' EU bullies block UK bid to stop deadly tree disease A video shared by Italian broadcaster TG3 showed the full extent of the damage, with many fields stripped bare by vast numbers of the insects. Speaking towards the end of last month, one farmer based in Bolotana in the centre of Sardinia said: "When the locusts arrived in mid-May, my cabbages were small, it wasn't harvest time yet, they were all still in the field. Then the swarm came through, started to devour all the leaves, leaving only the stem. "Instead of abandoning the crop to them, I preferred to pick it in advance and donate it to a charity for people in need." DON'T MISS India advice issued as nation braces for biblical locust swarm [INSIGHT] Bible bombshell: Shock video shows locust 'plague' turn sky black [REVEAL] 'We are doomed!' Biblical plague of locust engulfs city in shock video [OPINION] Ignazio Floris, an entomologist at the University of Sassari, said depopulation, climate trends and rising temperatures were all factors. He explained: "In recent years we have seen bizarre and particularly dry weather conditions in Sardinia in spring and summer and this is certainly one of the predisposing factors that has favored this phenomenon." Mr Floris added: "This year the invaded areas have been mapped - a good prerequisite for intervention in due course for the next year." Ultimately, the prevalence of locusts may be linked to the pandemic. Speaking in April, the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) said coronavirus-linked flight restrictions were hampering efforts to wipe out locust swarms on the verge of devastating crops in eastern Africa, which, partly as a result, have spread to Europe. Cyril Ferrand, FAO’s head of resilience for Eastern Africa, said: "If we fail in the current control operations, because of lack of pesticides, then we could see four million more people struggle to feed their families. He warned: "They are very active, very voracious, and very mobile. "If we don’t have pesticides, our planes cannot fly and people cannot spray and if we are not able to control these swarms, we will have big damage to crops. “We need to have mobility that is equivalent to the desert locusts, that’s what helicopters give us." The FAO has secured roughly $111 million of funding towards fighting the swarms. However, the figure is $40 million less than the organisation sought, Mr Ferrand said. (Additional reporting by Maria Ortega)

Insect Disaster

Aeroflot Flight 191 crash

Aeroflot Flight 191 was a Soviet domestic passenger flight from Vnukovo International Airport to Ashgabat International Airport, with a stopover in Turkmenbashi International Airport. On 5 March 1963, the Ilyushin Il-18 crashed while landing at Ashgabat International Airport as a result of a dust storm. 12 of the 54 people on board were killed. The aircraft involved was an IL-18V with tail number of CCCP-75765 and a serial number of 181003404. The aircraft was launched on 28 June 1961 and was transferred to Turkmenistan Airlines. At the time of the crash, the aircraft had 2,098 flight hours and 1,213 landings. [1][2] The cockpit crew of Flight 191 consisted of 8 people in the following positions:[2] The flights route was from Vnukovo International Airport to Ashgabat International Airport with a stopover at Turkmenbashi International Airport. At 18:04, Flight 191 took off from Turkmenbashi with 43 passengers. According to the weather forecast of the crew in Ashgabat, the sky was covered by cumulonimbus clouds with a lower boundary of 600-1,000 meters. The visibility was 4-10 kilometers. After 21:00, the weather was expected to deteriorate with a dust storm containing northwestern winds at 18–20 m / s and resulting in a visibility of less than 1,000 meters. According to such data, the crew could have completed the flight before the weather worsened. But, the weather worsened much faster than expected and at 17:00, the weather forecaster of Ashgabat Airport issued new data. However, the weather forecaster at Krasnovodsk Airport did not inform the crew about the change in forecast. [2] The crew of Flight 191 were unaware of the changed forecast in Ashgabat. Five to twenty minutes after departure from Krasnovodsk, at a flight level of 6,000 meters, the aircraft encountered heavy turbulence, making the crew change course. At 19:15, the air traffic controller gave the crew information of a dust storm with a visibility of 300 meters. Because of the strong radio interference caused by the storm, the crew did not hear this data. Since the aircraft had a visibility of 5 kilometers and was already flying in difficult weather conditions, the pilots did not try to find out the updated weather forecast. The air traffic controllers made no attempt to re-contact the aircraft to report the actual weather and redirect it to an alternate airport. [2] When the aircraft was 25 kilometers north of the airport, the crew began to perform a landing approach with a heading of 295 °. Due to strong atmospheric interference, the radio compass began to give false readings, including the flights non-directional beacon . The crew discovered this error and brought the plane to the area of the beacon. After the 3rd and 4th U-turns, the aircraft, at an altitude of 400 meters, entered its final approach. The first officer took over the controls. The crew reported that they saw the runway lights and began to approach the runway. While landing, the aircraft headlights were turned on, which is a mistake in a dust storm as it creates a screen that reduces visibility. [2] While attempting to land, the aircraft unexpectedly fell into strong turbulence with a wind of 20-25 m / s and visibility dropping to 30 meters. The aircraft began to roll severely causing the flight instruments to malfunction. At one point, the aircraft was only 7 meters from the ground and 250 meters from the runway with a roll of 5–7 °. The leftmost wheel hit a runway light 6 meters high and the right wheel knocked down a telegraph pole 7 meters high. 150 meters from the runway, having lost speed, the aircraft began to descend, hitting the reinforced concrete pillar of runway lights 100 meters from the site of the first collision. With a roll of 30 °, the aircraft began to bring down reinforced concrete pillars, then the runway fence, after which it crashed 1,012 meters from the end of the runway. [2] While skidding on the runway, the airliner lost both wings and the cockpit was completely destroyed. The fuselage tipped over on its left side. There was a fire in which the entire middle section of the aircraft burned. All 8 cockpit crew members died along with 4 passengers. [2] The immediate cause of the disaster was flying in violation of minimum weather standards. As a result, the aircraft flew into dangerous weather. The air traffic controllers were blamed for the crash as they did not give the crew updated weather information or attempt to offer the flight an alternate airport. The air traffic controllers also decided to land the plane in dangerous weather conditions. A mistake was made by the crew as well as they did not try to seek updated weather information. [2] Accident description at the Aviation Safety Network

Air crash

‘Hell’ in Yemen, with millions ‘knocking on the door of famine’ WFP’s Beasley warns

Over half the Yemen population is facing acute food shortages “with millions knocking on the door of famine”, the UN food relief agency chief said on Wednesday, wrapping up a two-day visit to the country with an urgent plea for peace and funding to help feed vulnerable families. As famine-like conditions are emerging across Yemen David Beasley, Executive Director of the UN World Food Programme, said “the answer is simple”. “We have a vaccine for this. It is called food. All we need to save lives is funding”, he spelled out. Yemen is becoming the worst place on earth and it is 100% man-made. It means: No food, no fuel, no end in sight. This is hell.400,000 children are at risk of dying right now. That's not just a number—these are real people. We need support ASAP to stop this. #YemenCantWait In the capital of Sana'a, the UN official witnessed first-hand the devastating toll of malnutrition on Yemen's children during a hospital visit where 2.3 million under-five, are projected to face acute malnutrition this year. And the nearly 400,000 youngsters suffering from severe acute malnutrition are likely to die without urgent treatment. Mr. Beasley noted “dead silence” in children’s hospital wings as the children were “too sick and too weak to either cry or laugh”. “But they are still the lucky ones who were able to make it to the hospital”, Mr. Beasley added. “Many poor families cannot afford the cost of transportation to bring their children to hospitals or they arrive and are turned away because there are not enough beds for their sick children.” The WFP chief also saw the progress that the UN agency’s biometric registration programme is making to ensure that food assistance is delivered in an accountable and transparent way. Over 16 million Yemenis are food insecure, with nearly 50,000 already facing famine-like conditions (IPC 5 on the official scale) and a further five million only one step away (IPC 4). Against the backdrop that humanitarian food assistance is the first line defence against the country’s spiralling hunger, WFP is looking at all options to scale up assistance to meet the growing needs and avert a devastating famine. But more needs to be done for millions who are at risk of slipping further into hunger as conflict and displacement, crippling fuel shortages, and rising food prices makes life harder each day. As fuel reserves are nearing empty, hospitals have been left without power and the commercial sector struggles to transport food and basic goods. This in turn forces people to rely on the black market where jacked-up prices contribute to climbing food costs that are well out of reach for millions. Meanwhile, 14 fuel-carrying vessels are being held off Yemen's Red Sea coast unable to berth, with none having entered the Hudaydah port since 3 January. We can make a difference here, but we need the funds to do it -- WFP chief "This is hell. Absolutely horrendous. Yemen is becoming the worst place on earth and it is totally man made", said Mr. Beasley. The UN official visited a WFP-run kitchen in Aden that employs local women – many of whom were displaced by conflict and are their families' sole breadwinner – to pack lunches for student and afterwards a school to distribute the lunches to children. “When we empower women and girls, we take a step towards zero hunger”, he said. “But we need Yemen's war to end so these brave and ambitious girls can grow up to be the doctors, pilots and teachers they want to be.” Critically underfunded, WFP's ability to maintain its response for Yemenis, hangs in the balance. Only with predictable and sustained funding can WFP define an implementation plan that meets the needs of the most vulnerable and averts a devastating famine. WFP needs $1.9 billion to save lives and provide food assistance in 2021: “We can make a difference here, but we need the funds to do it”, said the WFP chief.

Famine

Holden's Lightning flight crash

On 22 July 1966 Walter "Taffy" Holden, an engineer in command of No. 33 Maintenance Unit RAF with limited experience flying small single-engine trainer aircraft, inadvertently engaged the afterburner of a Mach 2.0-capable English Electric Lightning during ground testing. Unable to disengage the afterburner, Holden ran down the runway, narrowly missing a crossing fuel bowser and a de Havilland Comet taking off, before taking off himself. Flying without a helmet or canopy, the ejection seat disabled, and the landing gear locked down, Holden aborted his first two landing attempts. He landed on his third approach, striking the runway with the aircraft's tail as he adopted in his flare the attitude of a taildragger aircraft. The aircraft returned to service, and was subsequently acquired by the Imperial War Museum Duxford. The English Electric Lightning was a high-performance short-range interceptor aircraft. The Lightning had a max takeoff weight of 20 tons, and could reach Mach 2.0. [1] The aircraft involved in the incident was the second production Lightning, designated XM135. [2] XM135 was suffering from an electrical fault that would only manifest during acceleration for takeoff,[3] the electrical inverter supplying power to flight instruments would cut out during the first yards of the takeoff, and the standby inverter would switch in. [4] Wing Commander Walter "Taffy" Holden enlisted in 1943, gaining a cadetship to a university. Studying mechanical engineering, Holden also learnt to fly on the de Havilland Tiger Moth biplane. Holden pursued an engineering career in the RAF; however, the RAF did qualify him with pilot wings after training on the Harvard. He subsequently practised on the de Havilland Canada DHC-1 Chipmunk during his early career. [4] In 1966, Holden was in command of No. 33 Maintenance Unit RAF at RAF Lyneham, which was in the process of closing. The unit maintained Gloster Meteors, English Electric Canberras, and English Electric Lightnings. At the time, the unit was in the process of winding down and was disposing of its last aircraft. The unit had a test pilot on staff for its Canberras and Meteors, but that pilot was not qualified for the Lightning. For Lightning flights, Holden had to locate RAF test pilots with a current rating who could usually be found within 24 to 36 hours. [1][4][5] The troubles with aircraft XM135 were holding up the closure of the unit, and at the time of the incident, no test pilot was available for another week. A pilot from RAF Boscombe Down, who was involved in previous tests, suggested Holden perform the test himself because it involved only ground taxiing for 30 to 40 yards at a time. For each test, Holden was to test a different electrical configuration, rev up the engine to high RPMs, then cut the engine and apply the brakes. Holden was to communicate by hand signals with his support crew on a Land Rover, which would coordinate the next test with the control tower. [1][4][5] Holden was not wearing a helmet and had no radio. The canopy of the aircraft was removed for the electrical wires running out of the cockpit. [5] The landing gear was locked in a down position in a test mode. [1] After the Lightning was in position, Holden carried out the first test as expected, moving the aeroplane 30–40 yards (27–37 m). [1] However, in a subsequent test, Holden unintentionally pushed the throttle past the afterburner gate. Once the afterburner was engaged, disengaging it required pushing the gate keys behind the throttle, which Holden was inexperienced in operating. The Lightning gained speed quickly and just missed a fuel tanker that was crossing the runway in front of Holden. The Lightning crossed the main runway as a mid-takeoff de Havilland Comet passed over the Lightning. Holden was then running out of runway, so he pulled the stick back and took off. [4][5] Following takeoff, Holden managed to disengage the afterburner after feeling for the gate keys. Holden considered ejecting; however, that was not possible because the ejection seat was in inert ground mode. [1] On his first two landing attempts, his speed and height were wrong and Holden aborted both. [3] Holden, who vaguely recalled that the landing speed for the Lightning was 150 knots, took a wide circuit around Lyneham and attempted to land in the opposite direction of the runway, running away from the village. [4] In Holden's final flare, he adopted the attitude used in a taildragger aircraft of his earlier training. This resulted in a tailstrike, the rubber tail bumper of Lightning hitting the concrete, breaking, and detaching the cable of the drogue parachute used for assisting braking. Braking hard, Holden managed to bring the Lightning to a stop about one hundred yards before the end of the runway. [3] Holden was airborne for 12 minutes. [5] The aircraft was repaired and returned to service. [5] The electrical fault was determined to be caused by wires left in place from a deleted ground test button for the standby inverter, which shorted into the UHF radio which moved on its trunnions during the takeoff run. [4] After flying for 1343 hours,[6] XM135 was acquired in 1974 by the Imperial War Museum Duxford, where it is on display. [2] The inadvertent flight was impossible to hide from the press since the base was filled with civilian contractors. Holden was sent to Italy on leave when the news broke; however, he was recognised there as well. [1] An inquiry confirmed that Holden had not acted against any orders in the Flight Order Book (though these orders were subsequently amended) and that Holden had saved himself and the plane. [1][4] According to Holden, in a review before Air Marshal Kenneth Porter, he was asked whether he agreed that "With the limited flying experience I had, the test would have been better left to an experienced and current Lightning test pilot", which he answered in the affirmative, following which Porter related some of his own unfortunate flying incidents. [4] Holden remained in RAF service and retired in the late 1970s / early 1980s. [1] Holden died in 2016, aged 90.

Air crash

American Airlines Flight 63 (Flagship Missouri) crash

American Airlines Flight 63 was an American Airlines DC-3 nicknamed the Flagship Missouri that crashed on October 15, 1943, near Centerville, Tennessee, after ice formed on its wings and propeller. All eight passengers and three crewmembers perished. [1] This was the second fatal crash of an aircraft designated Flight 63, occurring two-and-a-half months after the crash of the Flagship Missouri’s sister ship, the Flagship Ohio. American Airlines Flight 63 serviced a 6-leg domestic passenger service between Cleveland, Ohio, and Memphis, Tennessee. The full routing of the flight was Cleveland-Columbus-Dayton-Cincinnati-Louisville-Nashville-Memphis. [1] Up until July 28, 1943, this route was serviced by the Flagship Missouri's sister ship, the Flagship Ohio. The Flagship Ohio was lost on the Louisville-Nashville leg of the flight, when the severe downdrafts of a nearby thunderstorm forced the DC-3 to crash into a field near Trammel, Kentucky. [citation needed] After the loss of the Flagship Ohio, the Flagship Missouri covered Flight 63. The Flagship Missouri was a DC-3 built by the Douglas Aircraft Company for American Airlines. It had been in service for seven years, since 1936, and had logged a total of 17,774 hours of flight time at the time of the crash. [1] The three crewmembers were Captain Dale F. Dryer, pilot, First Officer W. J. Brand, and one stewardess. [2] Flight 63 departed from Cleveland, Ohio, at 5:56 pm, 17 minutes behind schedule. The stops at Columbus, Dayton, Cincinnati, and Louisville were also delayed. By the time the flight departed Nashville, it was running 1 hour, 38 minutes late. [1] Departure from Nashville proceeded normally, and the pilot radioed to air traffic control (ATC) that he had reached an altitude of 6,000 feet (1,800 m) at 10:59 PM. At 11:06 PM, the flight requested and received permission from Nashville ATC to climb to 8,000 feet (2,400 m). [1] Ice which had formed on the wings and propellers of the aircraft made it impossible for the aircraft to maintain altitude. The plane gradually lost altitude until it crashed into a forested hill that rose up 75 feet (23 m) above the surrounding terrain. [1] Eyewitnesses told reporters that the plane "circled desperately" in search of a safe landing place before plummeting into a deep gulch. [2] Local woodsmen observed the plane's landing attempts and later heard the crash, but were unable to summon help or report it due to the lack of telephones in the area. The wreckage was discovered the following morning by woodcutter John Durison. [2] The Civil Aeronautics Board investigated the crash and determined that ice that had formed on the propeller or wings made it impossible for the pilot to control the altitude of the aircraft. Inability of the aircraft to gain or maintain altitude due to carburetor ice or propeller ice or wing ice of some combination of these icing conditions while over terrain and in weather unsuitable for an emergency landing.... Weather conditions which, had their nature been anticipated, should have precluded the dispatch of the flight in an aircraft not equipped with wing or propeller deicing equipment. The ten passengers included two captains and an aviation cadet, as well as a Texan and four Tennessee residents. [2]

Air crash

A massive famine is creeping into Yemen, we need to stop it devouring a generation

Monday’s high-level meeting convened by the UN will call for immediate funding to slow the hunger endangering millions Last modified on Mon 8 Mar 2021 17.44 GMT In November the United Nations issued a warning that Yemen was in imminent danger of the worst famine the world has seen for decades. As the country faces its darkest hour, the efforts to bring peace to the country are more urgent than ever. But there are some signs of hope. There is no doubt that the enhanced diplomatic engagement by the US is giving new momentum to the UN-led political efforts. If this momentum is sustained, it could create the best chance yet to save lives, stave off a mass famine, and forge a path to peace. The only question is whether the world seizes the opportunity. Many people have a role to play in this. But what the international donor community does now will be crucial. It is impossible to overstate the horror of daily life in Yemen. Two in three people rely on aid to survive. Nearly 50,000 Yemenis are already living in famine-like conditions. The war has decimated the economy and crushed public services. Life in Yemen for the average person has become unbearable, and children suffer the most. Children are starving. This year, nearly half of all under-fives are set to suffer from acute malnutrition. This includes 400,000 facing severe acute malnutrition. Many will die without urgent treatment, and those who survive will suffer from the largely irreversible damage caused by the condition. Preventable diseases like cholera, diphtheria and measles cause the needless death of at least one child every 10 minutes in Yemen. Sick children are turned away by health facilities that do not have medicines or supplies. And every day, Yemeni children are killed or maimed in the conflict. The only long-term solution to Yemen’s problems is to find an end to the war, and a path towards peace, which is guided by the aspirations of Yemenis. But a political and diplomatic effort will only stand a chance if it is underpinned by a stable humanitarian situation. As the path to peace is forged, we must help rebuild the country, and the public systems, strengthen national capacity, stabilise the economy and – most urgently – feed the children who are wasting away because they are starving. We have hardly witnessed a clearer case for scaling up humanitarian relief in decades. But last year funding to Yemen dropped dramatically. In 2020, the UN-led humanitarian operation received $1.9bn (£1.35bn) – half of what was needed and half of what was received the year before. The impact of the funding reduction was brutal. Aid had to be cut, and many people who needed help did not get it. Donors need to return to at least the same level of funding as in 2019. With famine already creeping in, we need to quickly ramp up the aid operation if we want to stop it devouring a whole generation. On 1 March, the UN, Sweden and Switzerland will convene a high-level pledging event for donors to pledge their support for the people of Yemen. The UN humanitarian response needs $4bn this year. That is what it takes to hold back a massive famine and address other acute needs. If the UN receives this funding, it will be able to help 16 million people across Yemen with the basics they need to survive. We can achieve this if donors commit to returning to the much higher funding levels of 2019 – at the very minimum. Anything less is not enough. Anything less would squander this opportunity to stave off mass famine and take a meaningful step towards peace. Every extra dollar the UN and partners receive for the aid operation is a step in the right direction and the sooner it arrives the better. We need to turn promises into food and medical supplies as quickly as possible because time is not on our side. This is not the moment to step back from Yemen. No one in Yemen deserves to die because they cannot get enough to eat. More money for the aid operation is the fastest, most efficient way to prevent a famine. It will also help create the conditions for lasting peace. 2020 was hard for everyone, but it hit some much harder than others. The people of Yemen desperately need help right now. So let’s stand by them.

Famine

Central Africa Confronts Measles and Meningitis Outbreaks

The ongoing measles outbreak in the Central African Republic (DRC) was declared in January 2020, and by the end of the year, 28,633 suspected cases with 137 associated deaths were reported. And the outbreak continued in 2021. As of August 21, 2021, the DRC has reported about 2,049 measles cases. Over the years, routine and supplemental measles immunization vaccination coverage has been suboptimal in the DRC. Twenty-five percent of the measles cases confirmed in 2021 are unvaccinated. And the administrative vaccination coverage at the national level remains less than 70% as of June 2021. As a result, a national vaccination campaign targeting children up to 10 years was conducted in two phases in 2020. 'The country (DRC) needs to continue with vaccine campaigns for vaccine-preventable diseases and reinforce the mechanisms for ensuring that these campaigns reach targeted populations to prevent further outbreaks of diseases such as measles,' says the WHO. The U.S. CDC suggests infants traveling internationally should get one dose of a measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine before departure to the DRC. This dose does not count as part of the routine childhood vaccination series. Separately, the Democratic Republic of the Congo declared a meningitis outbreak in the Tshopo Province on September 8, 2021. The CDC recommends that travelers two months or older traveling to the north-eastern DRC get vaccinated against meningitis. Anyone can get meningococcal disease, but people who live or travel to some regions of the world are more likely to get it. The "meningitis belt" of sub-Saharan Africa has the highest rates of meningococcal disease in the world. The disease is more common in this part of Africa during the dry season (December through June). People with meningococcal disease spread the bacteria to others through close personal contact, such as living together or kissing. Bacteria that cause meningococcal disease can also infect the blood, causing septicemia. Getting a meningococcal vaccine is the best way to protect against meningococcal disease. There are two types of meningococcal vaccines available in the USA: Meningococcal ACWY (MenACWY) vaccine; Serogroup B meningococcal (MenB) vaccine.

Disease Outbreaks

Fuel shortages block food aid in famine-threatened Tigray: UN

Fuel shortages have forced some aid groups to suspend food distribution in Ethiopia's war-hit Tigray region, where famine stalks hundreds of thousands of people, the UN said. Some 14 fuel trucks are stranded in Afar region, home to the only viable land route into Tigray, despite having been granted permission to proceed, the UN's humanitarian coordination office said in a report released late Thursday. "Due to the severe shortages of fuel, several humanitarian partners were forced to significantly reduce or suspend their activities," it in a weekly situation report for the year-long conflict in northern Ethiopia. "Since 11 October, out of the seven main active food partners, for instance, at least three have already [been] forced to cease food distribution. The other four will also have to cease distribution outside of Mekele within one week if fuel is not received." Tigray erupted in conflict last November after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent troops to topple the region's former ruling party, the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF). The 2019 Nobel Peace laureate said the move came in response to TPLF attacks on army camps and promised a swift victory. But by late June the TPLF had regrouped and retaken most of the region including its capital Mekele. Since then Tigray has been under what the UN describes as a de facto humanitarian blockade. Despite a communications blackout, AFP has documented starvation deaths in multiple parts of the region, citing internal documents from aid groups active there. The UN said last week the number of young children hospitalised due to severe malnutrition between February and August was double the number recorded during the same period last year. Some 2.5 percent of screened children were diagnosed with severe malnutrition during the past week, the UN said Thursday, up from 2.3 percent the week before. Thursday's report also noted that during the week ending October 13, only 52,000 people in Tigray received food assistance, or one percent of the 5.2 million that aid groups are targeting. "To reach 5.2 million people with food assistance within a six-week cycle, partners are expected to assist at least 870,000 people on average per week," the report said. With the TPLF in control of most of Tigray, fighting has recently been concentrated to the south in Amhara region. But this week Ethiopia's government launched at least four air strikes in Mekele, killing three children and injuring other civilians, according to the UN. The government says the campaign is targeting rebel facilities.

Famine

1 dies of poison, another serious after suicide bid

RAJOURI, Oct 17: One person was died after allegedly consuming some poisonous substance while another is struggling for life after making similar attempt in Rajouri district. A police spokesman said that one Abdul Rashid (35), son of Haji Suba, resident of Gadyog tehsil Khawas in district Rajouri consumed some poisonous substance at his house and after that the family members shifted him to CHC Kandi, where after preliminary treatment medical staff referred him to GMC Rajouri for further treatment. He Was still hospitalised. The police further said that one Pankaj Kumar, son of Ram Lal was brought to SDH Nowshera by his family members stating it as snake bite case late last evening. He was referred to GMC Rajouri for further Medical treatment where he was diagnosed as poison consumption case and due to his critical condition, he was further referred to GMC Jammu and during treatment there he was died today. The police launched an inquest proceeding u/s 174 CrPC in this connection. Share Download Daily Excelsior Apps Now: Search for News Subscribe As a subscriber, you will have full access to all of our Newsletters and News Bulletins. Edited, Printed, Published by Kamal Rohmetra and owned by Excelsior. Executive Editor Neeraj Rohmetra. Printed at Excelsior Printer Pvt Ltd, Janipura, Jammu and published from EXCELSIOR HOUSE, Janipura, Jammu 180007 (J&K).

Mass Poisoning

South Korea's planned lunar orbiter will test delay-tolerant networking, a protocol designed for fragile and latency-heavy networks.

South Korea's planned lunar orbiter will test delay-tolerant networking, a protocol designed for fragile and latency-heavy networks. The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter is planned to launch in August 2022, carrying a host of experimental and scientific equipment, some of which is part of the wider NASA-led Artemis project, aimed at returning humans to the Moon. Delay or disruption-tolerant networking (DTN) is a store and forward protocol where information is passed from node to node and then stored when connectivity falls apart, making it perfectly suited for the latency-heavy and disruptive environment of outer space. The orbiter will in particular test a version of DTN known as Bundle Protocol (published as “RFC5050”), pioneered by NASA and backed by TCP/IP co-founder Vint Cerf. “In order to effectively support manned and robotic space exploration, you need communications, both for command of the spacecraft and to get the data back,” Cerf told DCD for our feature on DTN earlier this year. “And if you can't get the data back, why the hell are we going out there? So my view has always been ‘let's build up a richer capability for communication than point-to-point radio links, and/or bent pipe relays.’" Cerf has long pushed for an Interplanetary Internet, with early space DTN work dating all the way back to 1998. Progress has been slow - an earlier version of DTN, CFDP, was successfully trialed by Martian rovers Spirit and Opportunity, while the International Space Station tested out the Bundle Protocol in 2016. “We had onboard experiments going on, and we were able to use the interplanetary protocol to move data back and forth - commands up to the experiments, and data back down again,” Cerf said. But it is in the US' flagship Moon effort that Cerf and others hope that the ball will finally get rolling. “Artemis may be the critical turning point for the interplanetary system, because I believe that will end up being a requirement in order to successfully prosecute that mission," he said. The Artemis program initially hoped to take the first woman and the next man to the Moon in 2024, and build sustainable operations on the planetary satellite by the end of the decade, ahead of a manned Moon Base. This month, however, NASA's Office of Inspector General said that delays to its $1bn space suit program has made a lunar landing by late 2024 "not feasible.” Funding shortfalls, Covid-19 closures, and other technical challenges have also delayed the project. In addition, Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is suing NASA over awarding the lunar lander contract to SpaceX, potentially derailing Artemis even more. If and when Artemis leads to an increased human presence on the Moon, those astronauts - and the plethora of sensors and robotic devices that will be needed to support them - are expected to be significantly more connected than lunar explorers of old. Parts of the Moon that are visible to Earth could communicate with direct line of sight lasers, but areas within craters, or on the other side of the Moon, would need a relay system. It is here that DTN is expected to prove useful. The wider Moon Internet program is currently being operated under NASA's LunaNet, which DCD profiled here. That could include a data center on the Moon, while an early test under Project Tipping Point will see Nokia deploy Lunar 4G. The European Space Agency also plans to build a telecoms and positioning network around the Moon, under its Project Moonlight initiative, which DCD profiled here. The Korea Pathfinder Lunar Orbiter will be a part of that wider effort, helping test the connectivity solutions that could form the backbone of an Interplanetary Internet. DTN work for the orbiter will be led by Korea's Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute. It will also carry NASA's 'ShadowCam,' a specialty camera designed to observe perpetually dark areas of the Moon. The satellite, Korea's first to leave Earth's orbit, will additionally measure the Moon's magnetosphere, take more surface photos, among other tests. SpaceX is expected to launch the orbiter in August 2022, followed by a three-month journey to our closest neighbor.

New achievements in aerospace

Celebrity Couples Who Celebrated 50 Years Together

It seems there isn't a month that goes by without news of a celebrity couple filing for divorce with the usual "irreconcilable differences" reasoning, or another promising famous pairing splitting up after just dating for a while. Long-lasting relationships, much less marriages, are exceedingly rare — especially in Hollywood. So it's almost weird to see a celeb couple who are in it for the long haul. That said, some Tinseltown couples have been together for years, but never stopped to even consider getting married. "For people like us, the marriage certificate wasn't going to create anything that otherwise we wouldn't have," Kurt Russell, for example, told People about his longtime relationship with Goldie Hawn in December 2020. "I don't know. 40 years isn't enough to finally say, 'Well I guess... .'" For her part, Hawn added that "sometimes marriage doesn't work," noting that a piece of paper won't change the natural progression of a relationship. "It's not about the marriage. It's about the people and the relationship, and the will to stay together," she said. Hey, whatever works for you, right? But the couples below did decide to tie the knot — and when they said "till death do us part" at the altar, they actually meant it. These are some of the celebrity couples who have celebrated at least 50 years together. Ron Howard's transformation from child star to big time studio director is a Hollywood story for the ages. But one of the greatest events in his life happened on Nov. 1, 1970. That's when he had his first date with his now wife, Cheryl Howard. "We went to see a re-release of Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad Mad Mad World and then got some pizza at now defunct Barnone's in Toluca Lake. Quite a start, right?" the Apollo 13 director wrote on Instagram to celebrate the 50th anniversary of that night in 2020. "We'll be driving in the same '70 VW Bug I picked Cheryl up in 5 decades ago. It runs great. So do we." During an 2019 interview with People, Ron opened up about their meet-cute while he was a junior at John Burroughs High School in Burbank, Calif. "I met her, and there was never anybody else," he said. (Cue a chorus of awws.) He also revealed the key to their long-lasting relationship: "People say, 'How'd you do it?' There's no technique. There's no tactic other than communication is really important. You have to learn to communicate and have difficult conversations in constructive ways." Ron added, "Beyond that, there's an element of luck because people either grow together or they don't and I don't think you can force that." At the time of this writing, Jimmy Carter is the oldest living former United States president at the age of 96. Standing by his side for a vast majority of those years has been his beloved wife, Rosalynn Carter. With the pair celebrating their 74th wedding anniversary on July 7, 2020, the Carters are officially "the longest-married presidential couple," according to People. Rosalynn even held massive influence over Jimmy's inner circle once he entered politics, with a source telling the outlet back in 1976, "If Rosalynn okays you, you're in. If she doesn't, you're dead." On the campaign trail during his 1980 run against Ronald Reagan, Jimmy called his wife his "secret weapon." In the 2020 book, What Makes a Marriage Last, the former first lady explained one of the reasons their marriage has spanned the decades: "Jimmy has always thought I could do anything. Always. And so I've done everything. I've done things I never dreamed I could do." Meanwhile, Jimmy also talked about their relationship in the book (via USA Today), revealing how he'd known Rosalynn "since the day she was born," because they grew up as next door neighbors. Their first date was a double date with Jimmy's sister, Ruth (a.k.a. Rosalynn's best friend), and her boyfriend, which is where the Carters shared their first kiss. "I never was doubtful about her, and that Christmas, I told her I loved her and asked her to marry me," Jimmy explained. Hollywood icon Kirk Douglas, the star of such classic films as Spartacus and Paths of Glory, met his producer wife, Anne Douglas (née Buydens), on the set of the 1953 movie, Act of Love. They were both in relationships at the time, but got hitched the following year in Las Vegas (via People) and remained together until Kirk's death on Feb. 5, 2020. But their love affair, which spanned nearly seven decades, wasn't without its share of problems. Kirk was a known philanderer, but the fact that he was open and honest about his affairs made Anne realize that she was his ride or die. "Kirk never tried to hide his dalliances from me," she wrote in their 2017 book, Kirk and Anne (via People). "As a European, I understood it was unrealistic to expect total fidelity in a marriage." Hey, whatever works, right? During a 2017 interview with USA Today, Douglas jokingly called Anne "the most difficult woman [he'd] ever met," because she wasn't impressed by his offer for a date. "I mean, I was a big movie star! And I invited her to dinner and she said, 'Oh thank you very much, but I'm so tired.'" However, he eventually won her over when he stopped taking himself too seriously. "That's what got me," Anne said. "... It was showing me that he was able to do things that are not expected from him." As for Kirk, he wrote that he quickly knew he would be "lost without her." It's safe to say Samuel L. Jackson is an American icon. The venerable actor has been in so many classic movies that there are too many list. But before his global fame and decades-spanning career, he met LaTanya Richardson in 1970 while they were both attending Morehouse College (via The Guardian). They've been inseparable ever since. On Aug. 18, 2020, the Pulp Fiction actor wrote a touching tribute to his wife on their 50th anniversary together. "50 years ago we started dancing, it was all fun & games. 40 years ago today, s**t got real! The slow drag of our lives pressed together, I led sometimes, sometimes she did. We finally found that rhythm where there was no leader, we moved as one," Samuel wrote on Instagram, accompanied by a sweet photo of them dancing. "We're still glued together, hip to hip, a holding each other up, not covering as much of the floor, but owning & loving the space that's ours. HAPPY ANNIVERSARY [LaTanya]. Love You for keeping me on my toes & on the beat for 18,250 days. You make my soul sing‼️ Don't change the tune, we're not done dancing." A singer and accomplished actor in her own right, LaTanya credits her faith for their long-lasting relationship. "You can't do this without the Lord. You're going to have to turn to somebody, something — because men, they are different," she told Essence in 2018. Former United States President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush were married in 1945, and remained that way until her death in 2018 at the age of 92. According to CBS This Morning, the couple met as teenagers at a high school dance in 1941 and the sparks instantly flew. "I married the first man I ever kissed," Barbara once said. "When I tell this to my children, they just about throw up." She continued, "I fell in love with him practically at first sight, probably. Went home and told my mother about him. She should have been the head of the CIA. She knew everything about him the next morning. But he's just a — he's a very giving, he's never once said 'no' to me." The couple spent over 70 years together, and George was with Barbara when she took her last breath. "He held her hand all day today and was at her side when she left this good earth," the former POTUS' chief of staff, Jean Becker, told ABC News. In a statement announcing his wife's death, George said, "I always knew Barbara was the most beloved woman in the world, and in fact I used to tease her that I had a complex about that fact ... We have faith she is in heaven, and we know life will go on — as she would have it." A reportedly "heartbroken" George died seven months later at 94. It's rare to have two highly successful television shows during a career, but deadpan comedic legend Bob Newhart pulled that off with ease in the 1970s with The Bob Newhart Show and again in the 1980s with Newhart. His career lasted so long that he received his first Emmy Award in 2013 at the age of 84. By his side the entire time has been his wife of nearly 60 years, Ginnie Newhart. The couple, who were married in 1963, owe their relationship to another legendary comedian: Buddy Hackett. "Well, we're both Catholic. She's three quarters Irish. I'm three quarters Irish," Bob told People in 2019. "Buddy said, 'I've got a girl for you. She's going with another guy, but I don't think he's right for her, so I'm going to fix you up on a blind date. You'll meet her and you'll date and you'll get married. Then you'll have kids and you'll call one of the kids Buddy.'" Hackett certainly called it. During a 2013 interview with City & Shore Magazine, Ginnie explained how their marriage has lasted so long. "I don't know whether it's our generation — divorce was just not in our vocabulary. Like anybody we had fights, and we had some pretty good ones," she said. "But I was never happy being apart from him, and he was never happy being apart from me. When we both cooled down I'd say, 'I'm miserable,' and he'd say, 'I'm miserable. OK, let's end this.'" Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip just seem like they've always been married, don't they? After first meeting as teenagers in 1934, the couple tied the knot on Nov. 20, 1947 — less than five years before Elizabeth ascended to the throne. But marital bliss wasn't immediate. In order to marry the then-future Queen of England, Philip not only had to give up his Naval career, but also his Greek and Danish royal titles, per Biography. This reportedly made for a "very strained" marriage as he struggled to transition into his role as Prince Consort. Of course, other royal marriages have fared much worse, and these two made it through, with their decades-long marriage staying strong ever since. The couple received the COVID-19 vaccine together in early 2021 and have been spending lockdown together tucked away in Windsor Castle, where they celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary with little fanfare or a large gathering. During their 50th wedding anniversary back in 1997, Elizabeth opened up about the man she fell in love with as a teen. "He is someone who doesn't take easily to compliments but he has, quite simply, been my strength and stay all these years," she said (via Biography). "And I, and his whole family, and this and many other countries, owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know." Although Philip has been retired from public life since 2017, his love affair with the queen is showing no signs of slowing down. Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara got married in 1954, and later found success together in show business. While a younger audience might recognize Stiller from his work on Seinfeld, he and Meara were previously a prolific and famous comedy duo known as Stiller & Meara.

Famous Person - Marriage

Jeju uprising

The Jeju uprising, known in South Korea as the Jeju April 3 incident[5] (Korean: 제주 4·3 사건), was an uprising that occurred on Jeju Island from April 1948 to May 1949. Residents of Jeju opposed to the division of Korea had protested and had been on a general strike since 1947 against elections scheduled by the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK) to be held only in the territory controlled by the United States Army Military Government in Korea. The Workers' Party of South Korea and its supporters launched an insurgency in April 1948, attacking the police, and Northwest Youth League members stationed on Jeju mobilized to violently suppress the protests. [1]:166–167[6] The First Republic of Korea under President Syngman Rhee escalated the suppression of the uprising from August 1948, declaring martial law in November and beginning an "eradication campaign" against rebel forces in the rural areas of Jeju in March 1949, defeating them within two months. Many rebel veterans and suspected sympathizers were later killed upon the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, and the existence of the Jeju uprising was officially censored and repressed in South Korea for several decades. [7]:41 The Jeju uprising was notable for its extreme violence; between 14,000 and 30,000 people (10% of Jeju's population) were killed, and 40,000 fled to Japan. [6][8][9][1]:139, 193 Atrocities and war crimes were committed by both sides, but historians have noted that the methods used by the South Korean government to suppress protesters and rebels were especially cruel, with violence against civilians by pro-government forces contributing to the Yeosu-Suncheon rebellion in South Jeolla during the conflict. [1]:171[6][7]:13–14[1]:186 Some historians and scholars, including military historian Allan R. Millett, regard the Jeju uprising as the authentic beginning of the Korean War. [10] In 2006, almost 60 years after the Jeju uprising, the South Korean government apologized for its role in the killings and promised reparations. [11] In 2019, the South Korean police and defense ministry apologized for the first time over the massacres. [12] After Imperial Japan surrendered to Allied forces on August 15, 1945, the 35-year Japanese occupation of Korea finally came to an end. Korea was subsequently divided at the 38th parallel north, with the Soviet Union assuming trusteeship north of the line and the United States south of the line. In September 1945, Lt. General John R. Hodge established a military government to administer the southern region, which included Jeju Island. In December 1945, U.S. representatives met with those from the Soviet Union and United Kingdom to work out joint trusteeship. Due to lack of consensus, however, the U.S. took the "Korean question" to the United Nations for further deliberation. On November 14, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly passed UN Resolution 112, calling for a general election on May 10, 1948, under UNTCOK supervision. [13] Fearing it would lose influence over the northern half of Korea if it complied, the Soviet Union rejected the UN resolution and denied the UNTCOK access to northern Korea. [14] UNTCOK nevertheless went through with the elections, albeit in the southern half of the country only. The Soviet Union responded to these elections in the south with an election of its own in the north on August 25, 1948. [15] Residents of Jeju island were some of the most active participants in the Korean independence movement against colonial Japanese occupation. Due to the island's relative isolation from the mainland peninsula, Jeju experienced relative peace after the Japanese surrender, contrasting with the period of heavy unrest in the southern region of mainland Korea. As with the mainland, the period immediately following the Japanese surrender was characterized by the formation of People's Committees, local autonomous councils tasked with coordinating the transition towards Korean independence. When the American military government arrived on Jeju in late 1945, the Jeju People's Council was the only existing government on the island. As a testament to this relative stability, the US military governor under the United States Army Military Government in Korea (USAMGIK) John R. Hodge stated in October 1947 that Jeju was "a truly communal area that is peacefully controlled by the People's Committee without much Comintern influence. "[16] The Jeju People's Council had come under the directive of the South Korean Labor Party (SKLP) by late 1946. The SKLP encouraged the People's Council to establish military and political committees, as well as mass organizations. The 1946 USAMGIK dissolution of the provisional People's Republic of Korea and their associated People's Committees on the mainland sparked the Autumn Uprising of 1946, which did not spread to Jeju (as its PC still operated virtually unperturbed by the American military government) but did contribute to rising tensions on the island. [16]:17–18 Residents of Jeju began protesting against the elections a year before they took place. Particularly concerned about permanently dividing the peninsula, the SKLP planned gatherings on March 1, 1947 to denounce the elections and simultaneously celebrate the anniversary of the March 1st Movement. [1]:153[7]:28 An attempt by the security forces to disperse the crowds only brought more citizens of Jeju out in support of the demonstrations. In a desperate attempt to calm the boisterous crowd, Korean police fired indiscriminate warning shots above their heads, some of which went into the crowd. Although these shots successfully pacified the demonstrators, six civilians were killed, including a six-year-old child. [a][1]:154[7]:28[17] On March 8, 1947, a crowd of about a thousand demonstrators gathered at the Chong-myon jail, demanding the release of SKLP members the military government had arrested during the Sam-Il demonstrations. When the demonstrators started throwing rocks and subsequently rushed the jail, the police inside shot at them in a panic, killing five. In response, SKLP members and others called on the military government to take action against the police officers who fired on the crowd. Instead, 400 more police officers were flown in from the mainland, along with members of an extreme right-wing paramilitary group known as the Northwest Youth League. [1]:154 Although both the police and paramilitary groups employed violent and harsh tactics in their suppression of the locals, the Northwest Youth League was especially ruthless, described as borderline terroristic. [3]:99[1]:155[6]:58[18] As the May 10, 1948 elections approached, WPSK leaders hardened in their opposition to the involvement of UNTCOK in Korean affairs, as they believed the elections would concretise the 38th parallel partition as a border, rendering a unified, independent Korea much less likely. In January 1948, Pak Hon-yong, the leader of the WPSK, called on WPSK members south of the 38th parallel to oppose the elections by whatever means necessary, and called for a general strike to begin on February 7. At this point, there were at least 60,000 members of the WPSK on Jeju, and at least 80,000 active supporters. [1] These members and supporters not only went on strike but in some cases attacked government installations and engaged with police forces in open conflict. These engagements between SKLP guerrillas against rightist groups and police continued through March 1948. [1]:164 Although skirmishes had been taking place on Jeju Island since early 1947, April 3, 1948 is considered as the day the Jeju uprising officially began. Some sources claim it came about when military police "fired on a demonstration commemorating the Korean struggle against Japanese rule," igniting mass insurrection. [3]:99 Other sources, however, make no mention of this demonstration incident, and claim that WPSK plans to attack on April 3 had been in the works for some time. [1]:166[7]:30 Whatever the case, around 02:00 around 500 WPSK guerrillas alongside up to 3,000 sympathizers attacked Northwest Youth League positions as well as 11 of the 24 police stations on the island, killing 30 police officers, specifically targeting those who were known to have previously collaborated with the Japanese. [1]:167[6]:55 Lieutenant General Kim Ik-ryeol, commander of police forces on the island, attempted to end the insurrection peacefully by negotiating with the rebels. He met several times with rebel leader Kim Dal-sam of the WPSK but neither side could agree on conditions. The government wanted a complete surrender and the rebels demanded disarmament of the local police, dismissal of all governing officials on the island, prohibition of paramilitary groups, and the re-unification and liberation of the Korean peninsula. [1]:174[6] In the wake of these failed peace negotiations, the fighting continued.

Protest_Online Condemnation

Northern lights on Halloween weekend: Here's where a 'ghostly green glow' could be visible

The colorful aurora forms when the particles flowing from the sun get caught up in the Earth's magnetic field. From Seattle to Maine, a huge swath of states across the Northeast and as far west as the state of Washington could have a chance to see the northern lights this Halloween weekend, according to the University of Alaska Fairbanks' Geophysical Institute . Depending on the weather and factors like light pollution, millions of Americans as far south as Pennsylvania could see the aurora borealis, or northern lights, as early as Saturday night. The Geophysical Institute shows northern parts of states including New York, Maine, North Dakota, Michigan and Wisconsin and all of New England could see a glimpse of the lights. If weather allows, "highly active auroral displays" will be seen from be visible overhead in Portland, Oregon and New York City, according to the Geophysical Institute. Additionally, areas even farther south could have a chance to see the lights low on the horizon, the institute says. Those areas include Carson City, Nevada; Oklahoma City and Raleigh. The phenomenon comes due to a "strong" geomagnetic storm was created by a significant solar flare and coronal mass ejection from the sun on Thursday, Oct. 28. Thanks to this storm, the lights will be visible from Oct. 30 and Oct. 31, according to NOAA. The strongest part of the storm and the best time to see the Northern Lights is expected to arrive between 5 and 8 p.m. ET on October 30, according to the NOAA's predictions.

New wonders in nature

Forget haunted houses—these stranger-than-fiction Connecticut lighthouse tales are downright spooky

Penfield Reef Lighthouse Shortly before Christmas 1916, 38-year-old Frederick A. Jordan, head lighthouse keeper at Penfield Reef Lighthouse on the South Side of Black Rock Harbor off the coast of Fairfield, was relieved of his post by his assistant. He began to row to the mainland to spend the holiday with his family when the harbor was struck by a sudden gale and his boat capsized. Rudolph Iten, assistant keeper, boarded another boat in an attempt to save his friend, but couldn’t make it to him and Jordan drowned. Ever since, Jordan’s ghost has been said to “haunt” the area, keeping an eye on the lighthouse and boats. Iten, who became head keeper after Jordan’s death, said he was visited by the spirit of his old boss on a stormy night a few days after the tragedy. “They say that all lighthouse keepers are mad,” he told a local paper in the 1920s. “Some days later on what was one of the worst nights in the history of Penfield, [when] the waves were dashing over the lantern, I was awakened — I was off duty — by a strange feeling that someone was in my room. Sitting up I distinctly saw a gray, phosphorescent figure emerging from the room formerly occupied by Fred Jordan. It hovered at the top of the stairs, and then disappeared in the darkness below. Thinking it was the assistant keeper I called to know if anything was the matter, but he answered me from the lens room that all was well.” Later in the article, Iten describes how the logbook mysteriously turned to the page recounting Jordan’s death. Stories of Jordan being spotted have been told ever since. A Bridgeport Post article from March 16, 1972, told of residents on the shore reporting an erratic light flashing at the lighthouse, and a Coast Guard vessel being dispatched to investigate the problem. Although a mechanical cause was discovered, the article reported that “some ‘old salts’ in the area attribute the mysterious malfunction to the ghosts of former lighthouse keepers.” Faulkner's Island Lighthouse is part of the McKinney Wildlife Refuge and is Connecticut's second oldest lighthouse. Faulkner’s Island Lighthouse A terrible storm swept through Guilford’s coast in the winter of 1805. Joseph Griffing was on duty at the light on Faulkner’s Island, about 3 miles off the coast. The next morning, so the story goes, he saw a shipwreck on the rocks of nearby Goose Island. He rowed his small boat out to help, but a horrifying sight awaited him: seven dead men locked in a frozen embrace they had hoped in vain would keep them warm and alive. Griffing buried them on Goose Island. Ever since, according to some accounts, the men have haunted the lonely island that was home to a lighthouse keeper who could not save them, though he tried. The story is part of local lore, but I couldn’t find mention of such a terrible tragedy prior to a Hartford Courant story from 1934. Nor could Tracy Tomaselli, the historical room specialist at Guilford Free Library, or Guilford town historian Joel Helander, author of The Island Called Faulkner’s. The keeper at that time was indeed Griffing and there was a fierce storm in the area in the winter of 1805 that led to several shipwrecks, but newspaper accounts from the time indicate all the passengers survived. “My hunch is that the story relates to the 1805 storm that involved many ships, but that the story was changed or embellished over time,” Tomaselli says. “I do not see recorded deaths in Guilford in 1805 that would match seven crew members being buried.” While this grisly story appears to have been a tall tale, there are many other stories of successful rescues conducted by the keepers of Faulkner’s Light. “The bright pageantry of history that occurred out there is just incredible,” Helander says.

Shipwreck

Taking defence cooperation to a new level, India and Russia on Tuesday signed a deal for design and development of advanced fifth generation fighter aircraft

Taking defence cooperation to a new level, India and Russia on Tuesday signed a deal for design and development of advanced fifth generation fighter aircraft (FGFA) estimated to cost $ 295 million, the first such venture between them. The contract envisages joint development of preliminary design contract (PDC) for the advanced fighter jet and will involve Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd (HAL) from India and the Sukhoi Design Bureau and Rosoboronexport on the Russian side. The pact was signed on the margins of a meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, during which the two sides also discussed their defence relationship which is transforming from a buyer-seller format to one that, includes joint research and development, manufacturing and marketing activities. According to reports, the deal is expected to be worth over USD 295 million and the design of the aircraft is likely to be finalised within next 18 months. The Indian Air Force (IAF) has plans of acquiring 250-300 of these aircraft by the year 2030. Single and twin seat versions of the aircraft are expected to be developed and the plane will be ready for flying by 2017. The FGFA would be based on Sukhoi’s T-50 aircraft, which made its maiden flight in January this year. During their meeting, the two leaders also expressed satisfaction at the regular service-to-service interactions and joint exercises that have taken place between their countries. The two sides also agreed to make efforts to upgrade joint military exercises in various fields including counter-terrorism. Since the Cold War era, Russia has been the biggest military hardware supplier to India and the Indian armed forces rely heavily on that country. Though India has been working to diversify its military imports, still the bulk of the hardware with the three defence forces is of Russian origin including frontline Su-30 MKI fighter aircraft and T-90 and T-72 tanks.

Sign Agreement

Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 crash

Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 2501 was a DC-4 propliner operating its daily transcontinental service between New York City and Seattle when it disappeared on the night of June 23, 1950. The flight was carrying 55 passengers and three crew members; the loss of all 58 on board made it the deadliest commercial airliner accident in America at the time. [2] The aircraft was at approximately 3,500 feet (1,100 m) over Lake Michigan, 18 miles (29 km) NNW of Benton Harbor, Michigan[3] when flight controllers lost radio contact with it soon after the pilot had requested a descent to 2,500 feet (760 m). Witnesses reported hearing engine sputtering noises and a flash of light after the last radio transmission. [4]A widespread search was commenced including using sonar and dragging the bottom of Lake Michigan with trawlers, but to no avail. Considerable light debris, upholstery, and human body fragments were found floating on the surface, but divers were unable to locate the plane's wreckage. [5] It is known that Flight 2501 was entering a squall line and turbulence, but since the plane's wreckage underwater was not found, the cause of the crash was never determined. [5] There is output from a hindcast simulation of the possible weather conditions during the event. The incident was reported as follows: A Northwest Airlines DC-4 airplane with fifty-eight persons aboard, last reported over Lake Michigan early today, was still missing tonight after hundreds of planes and boats had worked to trace the craft or any survivors. All air and surface craft suspended search operations off Milwaukee at nightfall except the Coast Guard cutter Woodbine. The airplane, a four-engine 'air coach' bound from New York to Minneapolis and Seattle, was last heard from at 1:13 o'clock this morning, New York Time, when it reported that it was over Lake Michigan, having crossed the eastern shore line near South Haven, Mich. The craft was due over Milwaukee at 1:27 A.M. and at Minneapolis at 3:23 A.M. If all aboard are lost, the crash will be the most disastrous in the history of American commercial aviation. The plane carried a capacity load of fifty-five passengers and a crew of three, headed by Capt. Robert Lind, 35 years old, of Hopkins, Minn. In Minneapolis, Northwest Airlines said the craft was 'presumed to be down,' and that they were beginning notification of relatives of passengers. In his last report, Captain Lind requested permission to descend from 3,500 to 2,500 feet because of a severe electrical storm which was lashing the lake with high velocity winds. Permission to descend was denied by the Civil Aeronautic Authority because there was too much traffic at the lower altitude. The missing airliner is the subject of an annual search by Michigan Shipwreck Research Associates (MSRA), a Michigan-based non-profit organization. The search effort began in 2004 as a joint venture between author and explorer Clive Cussler and the MSRA. Cussler ended his involvement in 2013, but sent his side scan sonar operator back to Michigan in 2015, 2016, and 2017 to follow some leads discovered by MSRA. In September 2008, MSRA affiliate Chriss Lyon, investigating the crash of Flight 2501, found an unmarked grave that contains the remains of some of the 58 victims. Valerie van Heest, MSRA co-director and author of the book Fatal Crossing, says human remains from the June 1950 crash into Lake Michigan washed ashore and were buried in a mass grave. She claims they were buried in a St. Joseph-area cemetery without the knowledge of the victims' families, and the grave was never marked. [6] In a 2008 ceremony at the cemetery with 58 family members of Flight 2501, a large black granite marker, donated by Filbrandt Family Funeral Home, was placed in Riverview Cemetery that now lists the names of the 58 and the words "In Memory of Northwest Flight 2501, June 23, 1950. Gone but Never Forgotten." Another mass burial site was discovered in 2015 at Lakeview Cemetery in South Haven. The site had long been unmarked, until cemetery sexton Mary Ann Frazier and her mother, Beverly Smith, working on a genealogy project, found it. The women contacted van Heest and together they planned a memorial service before the 65th anniversary. Filbrandt organized the service, which was led by pastor Robert Linstrom. St. Joe Monument Works donated a marker for the gravesite; it was delivered to the cemetery a few days before the 65th anniversary of the crash. On Wednesday, June 24, 2015, a remembrance service was held at the grave site. South Haven Mayor Robert Burr, along with Craig Rich from the MSRA, read off all of the 58 victims' names. After each name was read, a bell was rung. [7] The crash was featured on an episode of the Discovery Channel program Expedition Unknown (season 8, episode 2), which aired on February 12, 2020. [8]

Air crash

Harley Bennell suspended for four AFL matches, Melbourne fined for coronavirus protocol breach

A Victorian man who flew from Brisbane to Hobart on flight VA702 today has tested positive to COVID-19 and has not been allowed to board a flight to Melbourne A Watch & Act warning is in place for a fire in the northern parts of Mokine, in WA's Northam Shire. Keep up to date with ABC Emergency The AFL has suspended Melbourne's Harley Bennell for four matches and fined the Demons $50,000 after he breached the league's COVID-19 protocols. Bennell was found to have breached the protocols after leaving the Demons' high-performance centre in Twin Waters on the Sunshine Coast. The AFL, who investigated the matter, said he "attempted to visit another residence without approval and visiting an unapproved premises". The league said Bennell would leave the Demons' base in Queensland "as soon as possible". Bennell's suspension means he will miss the first four matches of the 2021 season. The AFL did not suspend any part of the Demons' fine, as two of the club's players had committed protocol breaches earlier in the season. The $50,000 amount will be included in Melbourne's 2021 soft cap. "This is a selfish act by Harley, and a clear breach of the AFL's protocols," Demons chief executive Gary Pert said in a statement. "He has made a very poor decision, which is incredibly disappointing. He has not only put himself, his teammates and the competition at risk, but he has failed to live up to the values of the Melbourne Football Club. "On behalf of the Melbourne Football Club, I sincerely apologise to the AFL and the Queensland Government for the embarrassment and harm that this incident has caused. "Harley knew the rules. He understands the extent of his actions and is incredibly remorseful for his behaviour. He has made a terrible mistake and has been punished accordingly. "As a club, we accept the punishment and fines handed down as a result of this breach." AFL general counsel Andrew Dillon said there was no excuse for Bennell breaching the league's protocols. "Harley knew the rules and could have put his club and the competition at risk on the eve of a finals campaign," he said. The AFL's punishment of Bennell comes just over two weeks after Richmond's Sydney Stack and Callum Coleman-Jones were sent home from Queensland and suspended for a protocol breach on the Gold Coast. The league's Victorian teams are based in Queensland hubs to enable the competition to continue during the pandemic, but they must abide by a set of COVID-19 protocols to reduce the risk of virus transmission. Bennell, who previously played for Fremantle, appeared in five matches for the Demons this season. He was not part of the club's travelling squad that beat Essendon in Carrara on the Gold Coast on Saturday. The Demons' season is now over after they slipped out of the top eight following the Western Bulldogs' win over the Dockers in Cairns on Sunday night. The Bulldogs replaced the Demons in the top eight as a result of their victory.

Organization Fine

Avion Pirata crash

Avión Pirata (Pirate Airplane) is the name given by Bolivians to a Lockheed Constellation which mysteriously carried flights into El Trompillo Airport in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, during 1961. The airplane has remained in Bolivia since 1961, when it was forced to land by the Bolivian Air Force after a chase in which an Air Force Captain died in a crash. The airplane has become a tourist attraction, having undergone several changes of ownership, and has also become an urban legend among Bolivians. The airplane is a Lockheed Constellation with the registration N2520B, which at the time of the incident was registered to Lloyd Airlines of Miami, Florida (not to be confused with Lloyd Aereo Boliviano, the then flag-carrier of Bolivia). According to AeroTransport Data Bank the airplane was sold to a Brandon Anderson in 1958. [1] The airplane had previously flown for Braniff International Airways and Trans American Airlines before being acquired by the Empire Supply Company in 1960, months before the incident happened. A model airplane of this aircraft exists, as Corgi Toys released a model of the Constellation under Braniff livery. [2] During some time before N2520B's final flight, Constellations had been conducting night flights to El Trompillo Airport. Locals believe that these transported goods to Buenos Aires, Argentina and Arica, Chile, among other destinations, from the United States, such as cigarettes, textiles, whiskey, socks, television sets and contraband items. [3] On Saturday, 29 July 1961, the airplane landed at El Trompillo Airport, and rested there until 30 July, when it took off southward. The plane's occupants had not filed a flight plan; instead they said they were carrying a practice-only flight. Immediately after take-off, Trompillo control tower alerted the Fuerza Aerea Boliviana, which sent P-51 Mustang fighters to chase it. The P-51 pilots and the control tower asked the plane's crew to fly to Cochabamba, but the crew ignored the request. The P-51s then proceeded to shoot at the airplane, making the Constellation crew attempt an emergency landing at El Trompillo Airport. As the aircraft descended, the crew dived in a final attempt at getting the P-51's to call off their pursuit, causing one pilot, Captain Alberto Peredo Céspedes, to crash fatally. The Constellation itself landed at El Trompillo, and the crew members were arrested on site. The aircraft's tires were blown up and the local military airline, TAM, flew soldiers in from Cochabamba to prevent the airport from being overtaken by guerrillas. [4] Following the incident, Bolivian President Victor Paz Estenssoro, ordered an investigation which yielded the arrest of 85 soldiers and dishonorable discharge of 130 more. Also arrested were pilots William Roy Robinson and William Friedman, co-pilot Salvatore Henrique Romano, flight engineer Bertrand Vinson and radio-man Gene Hawkins. The case and its investigation became known nationally in Bolivia as the caso Constellation. The four Americans and one Brazilian (Henrique Romano) were charged with homicide, piracy, violation of international laws and contraband. After being incarcerated at Panóptico de La Paz jail, three of them were given provisional freedom and two were admitted into a local hospital under the supervision of American vice-consul in Bolivia at the time, Samuel Karp. In November 1961, it was announced that the airplane's crew had escaped Bolivia. They were tried in absentia, and in 1967, the case's prosecutor asked for ten years of prison for each crew-member. Ultimately, none of the five men on the airplane returned to Bolivia and four of them remain at large. Pilot William Roy Robinson died on 1 April 2010, aged 90, and is buried in the family cemetery, San Mateo, Florida. [citation needed] On 25 August 1961, a local judge assigned a Bolivian Air Force Commander as keeper of the airplane and the contents that it had during its last flight, as compensation for the P-51 lost during the plane's chase. But the La Paz district's customs department prevented this from actually taking place, and the plane became the property of the FAB's Military Aviation College instead. In 1979, the airplane was moved to Boris Banzer Prada Park at Uruguay avenue in Santa Cruz from El Trompillo airport, as it was given to Santa Cruz's city hall, which decided to place it at barrio El Tao, where the park is located. [5] The plane was later transformed into a library, and it was later used as a Banco de Crédito de Bolivia branch[6] after having fallen into disrepair and being restored. It has been used for advertisement purposes by Pepsi[7] and Aerosur, the now defunct major local airline. [8] The airplane was reported by a television news show to be in disrepair late in 2014. [9]

Air crash

Withdrawing From UNESCO, Trump Retreads Path Taken by Reagan

(CNSNews.com) – The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the U.N. Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization comes 33 years after President Reagan left amid concerns about mismanagement and an agenda viewed as corrosively anti-Western. Shortly before Reagan pulled out in 1984, UNESCO planned to set up a “new world information order” to counteract what it said was a Western-dominated flow of information. It proposed that journalists be licensed and an international code of press ethics be established. Critics called the agency a mouthpiece for pro-Soviet sentiment. President Bush took the U.S. back into the Paris-based body in 2003, saying it had made important reforms under its then-Japanese director-general, who had taken the helm in 1999. But over the decade-and-a-half since its historically biggest funder returned, UNESCO has if anything taken an even more troubling direction, seen particularly in its blatantly politicized stance on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel on Friday welcomed the U.S. decision and announced that it too will leave UNESCO. ‘Lack of transparency … systemic weaknesses’ In its announcement of the decision to withdraw for a second time, the State Department cited three issues – concerns with mounting arrears, the need for reforms, and “continuing anti-Israel bias.” The need for reforms was highlighted, again, late last year, when a British government review of its funding to multilateral organizations criticized UNESCO for a “lack of transparency” and “systemic weaknesses in the management of core funding and organizational effectiveness.” Of all the international organizations assessed in the review, UNESCO alone received a score of “weak,” and the government warned that its funding to UNESCO was in jeopardy. UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova, however, dismissed the criticism, saying the report was “based on a flawed methodology” and underestimated the agency’s achievements. For years Islamic states, supported by allies that include some of the world’s most repressive regimes (current executive board members include Iran, Qatar, Russia, China, Algeria, Sudan and Vietnam) have redirected UNESCO’s agenda in support of the Palestinian cause, targeting in particular Jewish historical heritage in areas claimed by the Palestinians for a future independent state. The process picked up momentum after UNESCO in 2011 became the first U.N. agency to admit “Palestine” – a political entity lacking national sovereignty – as a full member. That decision cost the agency dearly, since U.S. laws passed in 1990 and 1994 prohibit federal funding for “the United Nations or any specialized agency thereof which accords the Palestine Liberation Organization the same standing as member states,” and for “any affiliated organization of the United Nations which grants full membership as a state to any organization or group that does not have the internationally recognized attributes of statehood.” $542.6 million in arrears As U.S. taxpayers accounted for 22 percent of UNESCO’s operating budget, the funding cutoff which the Obama administration reluctantly implemented was a severe blow. Until the suspension, U.S. funding had amounted to some $80 million a year, plus a further $3-$4 million a year in extra-budgetary funds. As of this year, the United States “owes” UNESCO $542.6 million in dues not paid since the cutoff, including $143.6 million assessed for the 2016-2017 biennium. Those escalating arrears were referred to in the State Department’s statement explaining the decision to withdraw. While it rattled the agency’s finances, the admission of the Palestinians also cost Israel, as the Palestinian Authority (P.A.) was now able to use its membership to help drive agenda in ways that undermined Israeli claims and strengthened its own. Even before the Palestinians’ admission, UNESCO bodies had regularly voted in favor of resolutions bolstering Muslim claims to sites whose significance for Jews goes back thousands of years, most notably the Temple Mount in Jerusalem and the traditional burial place in Hebron of biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. When Israel tried to counter the barrage, UNESCO criticized that as well. After Israel included on its own national heritage list two sites located in territory claimed by the Palestinians – the Hebron burial place as well as the traditional burial site in Bethlehem of Rachel, Jacob’s wife – UNESCO hit back, passing a resolution declaring that the two sites “are an integral part of Palestine.” The Obama administration strongly criticized such politicized measures, although each year it continued to ask Congress to provide a waiver to enable it to restore UNESCO funding. Congress refused. Voting rights The funding freeze resulted in the U.S. losing its voting rights in UNESCO’s 195-member general conference in 2013. (According to the UNESCO constitution a member state loses its vote “if the total amount of contributions due from it exceeds the total amount of contributions payable by it for the current year and the immediately preceding calendar year.” The Obama administration and other proponents of engagement with the U.N. pointed to that loss of vote in arguing for the restoration of funding. The U.S. was not, however, prevented from membership in the more important executive board. In fact the U.S. has held a seat on the 58-member board since 2015. Bokova in a statement deplored the U.S. withdrawal decision, listing areas of UNESCO activity which are in line with U.S. interests and priorities, including protecting heritage sites in the Middle East in the face of terrorist attacks, promoting literacy, Holocaust education, education for women and press freedom. “At the time when conflicts continue to tear apart societies across the world, it is deeply regrettable for the United States to withdraw from the United Nations agency promoting education for peace and protecting culture under attack,” she said. “This is why I regret the withdrawal of the United States. This is a loss to UNESCO. This is a loss to the United Nations family. This is a loss for multilateralism.” Other controversies UNESCO controversies have not been limited to its dealing Israel and Palestinian heritage issues. Others during the Obama administration included: --A 2011 decision to grant an award sponsored by an African dictator. U.S.-led pressure eventually stymied the attempt to name the award for Equatorial Guinea’s Teodoro Obiang, but he continued to fund and to be closely associated with the “UNESCO-Equatorial Guinea International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences.” --A decision in 2013 to add the writings of “Che” Guevara to UNESCO’s “Memory of the World Register,” which in meant to collate and celebrate some of the human race’s most significant heritage. --A 2012 decision to establish a UNESCO chair at the Islamic University of Gaza, an institution with close links to the Hamas terrorist group. --A 2011 decision reappointing Syria to a committee dealing with human rights. A U.S.-led effort to expel Syria from the committee failed, in favor of a watered-down resolution that criticized the Assad regime for abuses but did not call for its removal. --A plan to allow Iran to host UNESCO’s annual World Philosophy Day event in 2010. Under pressure from the U.S. and others, Bokova disassociated the agency from the Tehran event.

Withdraw from an Organization

2020 Cagua fire

On 23 January 2020, a fire was started in the Agrícola del Lago reed bed in Cagua, Aragua state, Venezuela. Eleven people were confirmed to have died as a result of the fire, all but two being minors. [1][2][3][4] The fire started in Cagua on 23 January 2020, around 13:00 local time (VET), at the Agrícola del Lago reed bed sugarcane plantation, located in a popular extraction zone in the La Carpiera sector, in Cagua, Aragua state. The fire was under control by 22:00 but the authorities maintained a watch on it. [5][6] Firefighter units from Aragua, Cagua and the Forestry Unit, state civil defense officials, rescue groups, as well as park rangers and Corposalud Aragua participated in the operation. [7] At 21:50 an official from the fire department declared that the incident was a "vegetation fire" that had started in the afternoon. [5] Aragua's governor, Rodolfo Clemente Marco Torres, stated that investigations were under way to clarify the circumstances, and Douglas Rico, director of the Scientific, Penal, and Criminal Investigation Service Corps (CICPC), declared that officers had been deployed for the investigation. [8][9] Reports from the rescue teams initially indicated that the fire had claimed ten victims. The following day, Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced that at least eleven people died, nine of them minors, and announced that he had formed a commission headed by the state high prosecutor to investigate. [10] The young people who died had approached the area to hunt rabbits that were escaping from the fire, but a change in the wind direction spread the flames rapidly, and they were unable to get out of the burning plantation. [11] According to Saab, this plantation periodically burned sugarcane in the process of harvesting. [10] A relative of the victims noted that the owners of the plantation had started the fire during the day to burn sugarcane, as customary, but stressed that these types of fires are supposed to be set during the night, when temperatures are lower and there is less risk to neighbors, and that a firebreak should be in place to control the flames; the relative also claimed that this was not the first instance of plantation owners starting a fire during the daytime without taking the recommended precautions. [11] Residents of the area criticized the municipal government for leaving local firefighters without the necessary equipment to control the fire, including tanker trucks and water, which meant that the fire took hours to bring under control. They also drew attention to the government party official for Sucre Municipality, Miriam Pardo [es], who had spent millions of dollars to remodel a public square during her tenure. [12] The National Assembly deputy of Aragua, Karin Salanova, declared that the children had been hunting rabbits to feed themselves due to the precarious situation they lived in, noted that there were no ambulances in the area to transfer the injured to hospital, questioned the lack of supplies in the hospital where they were taken, the Central Hospital of Maracay—whose pediatrics wing was closed—and pointed out that regional authorities did not mobilize the Armed Forces to respond to the emergency. [11] In the area where the fire took place, there were no health centers prepared for this type of emergency, which meant that the victims had to be transferred to several more distant centers in the region, including the Cagua Clinic, the Central Hospital of Maracay and San José Social Service, also in Maracay. At least seven teenagers died during the fire; another two died in the Cagua Clinic and a tenth in the Central Hospital of Maracay, where one of the victims was receiving intensive care. [13] On social media, some users posted messages asking for medical supplies to be brought to the health centers. [6] Two twelve-year-old children were hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the Central Hospital of Maracay, in critical condition and with burns covering 30 percent of their bodies; one of them died during the night. The victims were aged between 10 and 18, with all but two being minors. Juan Guaidó, Henrique Capriles, and Guaidó's presidential human rights commissioner, Humberto Prado, sent their condolences to the victims' relatives. [12]

Fire

1989 Angola Lockheed L-100 crash

The 1989 Jamba Hercules crash was an air accident involving a Lockheed Hercules L-100 aircraft that crashed on final approach to Jamba, Cuando Cubango, Angola on 27 November 1989. The flight had originated at Kamina Airport, Zaire, and was attempting a low-level approach at night. The aircraft was owned by CIA front company Tepper Aviation; it was delivering arms to UNITA. [1][2] The crash killed "Bud" Peddy, the head of Tepper Aviation, who was acting as the plane's pilot. On board were several Americans, two West Germans, and a Briton. All were killed in the crash.

Air crash

Mitsubishi Chemical Merges Selected US Group Companies into Mitsubishi Chemical America, Inc.

The merger consolidates a range of products and services, enabling cross-business synergies that further the creation of innovative and sustainable solutions for its customers CHARLOTTE, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mitsubishi Chemical America, Inc. announced today that is has merged with seven of its subsidiaries in the United States to form an expanded and integrated company. The core businesses of the merging companies include acrylic monomers, polyester film, specialty resins, performance polymers, imaging materials, battery materials and metal composites. “The strength of Mitsubishi Chemical is in the diversity of our products, technologies and employees around the globe. The U.S. merger will improve efficiency and collaboration across our businesses, further enabling the development of comprehensive and innovative solutions that our customers seek” The merging companies are Dianal America, Lucite International, MC Ionic Solutions US, Mitsubishi Chemical Composites America, Mitsubishi Chemical Imaging Corporation, Mitsubishi Chemical Performance Polymers and Mitsubishi Polyester Film. This regional integration is part of a global Mitsubishi Chemical initiative that is also underway for selected subsidiaries in Germany and the United Kingdom. “The strength of Mitsubishi Chemical is in the diversity of our products, technologies and employees around the globe. The U.S. merger will improve efficiency and collaboration across our businesses, further enabling the development of comprehensive and innovative solutions that our customers seek,” said Randy Queen, president of Mitsubishi Chemical America, Inc. “By aligning the technical expertise, resources and capabilities that each company possesses, we are better positioned to address the evolving and complex needs of our customers. The merger will have a synergistic effect, accelerating our regional efforts in areas such as digital transformation, advanced business analytics and contribution toward a circular economy—each of which will generate long-term value for our customers and shareholders.” The regional headquarters for Mitsubishi Chemical America, Inc. is located in Charlotte, North Carolina. About Mitsubishi Chemical America, Inc. Mitsubishi Chemical America is a leading global provider of chemistry-based solutions for numerous key industries and is one of four regional headquarters for its parent, Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation. Our solutions are realized through our core values of sustainability, health and comfort to achieve KAITEKI—the sustainable well-being of people, society and our planet Earth. By creating KAITEKI value today, we help to ensure value for tomorrow.

Organization Merge

Taboose Fire

The Taboose Fire was a wildfire burning in Inyo National Forest, southwest of Big Pine and northwest of Aberdeen in Inyo County in the state of California, in the United States. The fire started September 4, 2019 and on October 7, it had burned 10,296 acres (4,167 ha) and was 75 percent contained. The cause of the fire was lightning. Select trails, campgrounds and roads in Inyo National Forest, Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park had been closed due to the fire. The community of Baxter Ranch was under mandatory evacuation. The Taboose Fire was reported around 6:30 p.m. southwest of Big Pine and northwest of Aberdeen in the Inyo National Forest in California. [1] By the morning of September 5, the fire was 125 acres (51 ha) and was burning at 5,000 feet in elevation in sagebrush, in rocky area. Fire crews struggled to suppress the fire due to the challenge of accessing the site from roads. Helicopters began water drops and mandatory evacuations were put in place for the Birch Creek area and Aberdeen and Fish Springs were put under evacuation warnings. The National Forest evacuated the Taboose and Tinnemaha Creek campgrounds, both which were used by fire crews as bases. [2] By the evening, the fire was 30 percent contained. [3] The next morning, on September 6, Taboose Creek Campground was reopened. [4] Over the weekend, high winds caused spot fires, increasing the size of the fire to 4,000 acres (1,619 ha) by the morning of Sunday, September 8. Containment was at 10 percent. Despite reopening three days prior, Taboose Creek Campground was placed under evacuation advisory. Tinnemaha Road was closed. Three park trails were closed, including trails that pass through Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park. [5] By the evening, the fire was reported at 10,500 acres (4,249 ha) after aircraft were able to map the fire's footprint. Air tankers and helicopters began dropping fire retardant and water. Four vehicles were destroyed in the fire at the Red Lake Trailhead. Baxter Ranch was put under mandatory evacuation and more roads were closed in the surrounding area. [6] Hikers were evacuated at Red Lake using helicopters. [7] On September 9, more campgrounds were closed. [8] On the morning of September 10, Unified Command reported that the fire has burned 9,335 acres (3,778 ha), despite original estimates that it had burned over 10,000 acres (4,047 ha). [1] That evening, select areas were opened to the public, no longer under mandatory evacuation. [9] As of September 11, the fire was 47 percent contained. The fire began burning in John Muir Wilderness. [1][10] Firefighters began working with the National Forest to begin clean up processes, including fire suppression and rehab and damage mitigation. [11] A Fire Weather Watch has been put in place by the National Weather Service due to dry, windy conditions anticipated for the weekend. [12] As of October 7, Taboose Creek Campground was closed and the fire had burned 10,296 acres (4,167 ha) and was 75 percent contained. [13] On September 18, mandatory evacuations remained in place for Baxter Ranch. [13] The following roads were closed: Tinemaha Road, Taboose Creek Road at Aberdeen, Birch Creek Road, McMurry Meadows Road, Goodale Road, and Goodale Creek Road. [13] The Birch Creek Trail, Red Lake Trail, and Taboose Creek Trails were closed. The following campgrounds were closed: Goodale Creek, Taboose Creek and Tinnemaha Creek. [13] The Taboose Fire caused trail, road and campground closures in Inyo National Forest, Sequoia National Park and Kings Canyon National Park. On September 8, the National Forest used helicopters to evacuate hikers on the Red Lake Trail and four vehicles were destroyed at the Red Lake Trailhead parking lot. [6][7] The communities of Aberdeen and Birch Creek underwent mandatory evacuations. [8]  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the United States Department of Agriculture.

Fire

1958 Notting Hill race riots

The Notting Hill race riots were a series of racially motivated riots that took place in Notting Hill, England, between 29 August and 5 September 1958. Following the end of the Second World War, Afro-Caribbean immigration to Britain increased. By the 1950s, white working-class "Teddy Boys" were beginning to display hostility towards black families in the area, a situation exploited and inflamed by groups such as Oswald Mosley's Union Movement and other far-right groups such as the White Defence League, who urged disaffected white residents to keep Britain white. There was an increase in violent attacks on black people throughout the summer. On 24 August 1958 a group of ten English youths committed serious assaults on six West Indian men in four separate incidents. At 5.40 a.m., the youths' car was spotted by two police officers who pursued them into the White City estate, where the gang abandoned their car. Using the car as a lead, investigating detectives arrested nine of the gang the next day, after working non-stop for twenty hours. Just prior to the Notting Hill riots, there was racial unrest in the St Ann's neighbourhood in Nottingham which began on 23 August, and continued intermittently for two weeks. The riot is often believed to have been triggered by an assault against Majbritt Morrison, a white Swedish woman,[4] on 29 August 1958. [5] Morrison had been arguing with her Jamaican husband Raymond Morrison at the Latimer Road Underground station. A group of various white people attempted to intervene in the argument, and a small fight broke out between the intervening people and some of Raymond Morrison's friends. The following day Majbritt Morrison was verbally and physically assaulted by a gang of white youths that had recalled seeing her the night before. According to one report, the youths threw milk bottles at Morrison and called her racial slurs such as "Black man's trollop", while a later report stated that she had also been struck in the back with an iron bar. [8] Later that night a mob of 300 to 400 white people were seen on Bramley Road attacking the houses of West Indian residents. The disturbances, rioting and attacks continued every night until 5 September. The Metropolitan Police arrested more than 140 people during the two weeks of the disturbances, mostly white youths but also many black people found carrying weapons. A report to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner stated that of the 108 people charged with crimes such as grievous bodily harm, affray and riot and possessing offensive weapons, 72 were white and 36 were black. The sentencing of the nine white youths by Mr Justice Salmon has been passed into judicial lore as an example of "exemplary sentencing" – a harsh punishment intended to act as a deterrent to others. Each of the youths received five years in prison and was ordered to pay £500. A "Caribbean Carnival", precursor of the Notting Hill Carnival, was held on 30 January 1959 in St Pancras Town Hall. Activist Claudia Jones organized this carnival in response to the riots and to the state of race relations in Britain at the time. The riots caused tension between the Metropolitan Police and the British African-Caribbean community which claimed that the police had not taken their reports of racial attacks seriously. In 2002, files were released that revealed that senior police officers at the time had assured the Home Secretary, Rab Butler, that there was little or no racial motivation behind the disturbance, despite testimony from individual police officers to the contrary. Majbritt Morrison wrote about the riots in her autobiography, Jungle West 11 (1964). The Notting Hill race riots feature heavily in the film Absolute Beginners (1986) which was based on the book of the same name by Colin MacInnes. On 29 September 1958, Hot Summer Night (play) premiered in the UK centring on a white family struggling to accept their daughter's love for a black Jamaican man. When the play was later turned into the 1961 film Flame in the Streets, with Earl Cameron and Johnny Sekka, the climax revolves around a new riot sequence undoubtedly inspired by events in Notting Hill.

Riot

2018 teachers' strikes in the United States

The 2018–2019 education workers' strikes in the United States began on February 22, 2018, after local activists compelled the West Virginia state leadership of the West Virginia branches of the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association into holding a strike vote. The strike—which ended when teachers returned to their classrooms on March 7—inspired similar, statewide strikes in Oklahoma and Arizona. It also inspired smaller-scale protests by school staff in Kentucky, North Carolina, Colorado, and led to a school bus driver strike in Georgia. Additionally, around this time, adjunct professors at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, Virginia protested over pay. The strikes continued in the fall of 2018 when there was a collective bargaining shortcoming between the United Teachers Los Angeles union and the Los Angeles Unified School District in September 2018, prompting a strike that began in January 2019. This also resulted in a teachers' walkout in Virginia, a long-time right-to-work state, as well as in Denver and Oakland, California. [8][9] The national wave of strikes has been referred to as Red for Ed or #RedforEd, with striking workers often wearing red shirts to show solidarity. [10][11] Reasons given for the choice of the color red range from the fact that many of the initial strikes were in red (Republican-controlled) states to the idea that public school budgets are in the red. [10] Motivations for the strikes included desire for increased wages for teachers and support staff, larger school budgets, smaller classrooms, and other issues. The strikes varied in their levels of success, with the West Virginia strike considered mostly successful, where Oklahoman teachers received relatively few concessions. Discussions of a strike in West Virginia began in early 2018. In the first week of February, teachers staged "walk-ins" at schools and some protested at the West Virginia Capitol. [12] The strike proved successful, and inspired those in other states to strike as well. [13] In early April, Oklahoma became the second state to strike, making it the first time a teacher's strike was held in the state since 1990. [14] The strike lasted for 10 days, from April 2-12, after teacher salaries were increased by $6,000 and support staff salaries were increased by $1,250. [15] In late April, teachers in Arizona and in Colorado went on strike. The Colorado strike began on April 27[16] and ended on May 12,[17] while the Arizona Strike lasted from April 26 to May 3. [18] In May 2018, it was reported that teachers in North Carolina could be next to strike, making it the fifth state to have a teachers' strike. [19] This was due to the state being ranked 41st in the nation in salaries for teachers, and per pupil spending at negative 12 percent. [20] Further, it was reported that teachers in North Carolina have seen a five percent decrease in salaries since 2008. Furthermore, teachers hired after January 1, 2021, will not receive health benefits, along with teachers having to pay $10,000 per year in out of pocket health insurance. [21] Because of a majority of the strikes being in predominantly Republican Party-controlled, conservative states,[22] the strikes have been referred to as the "Red State Revolt". [23][24][25] This has prompted several Republican politicians to concede to their demands, in the run-up to the 2018 mid-term elections. [26] One of the largest reasons for decreasing teacher pay and less funding for schools is the large amount of money diverted from current budgets to pay educators' unfunded pension liabilities. [27]:1 For example: "In Colorado, school district payments to the public pension fund have roughly doubled since 2006, from about 10 percent of payroll to 20 percent." [27] A 2016 study found that only 30% of the money that school districts pay towards the retirement benefits of an educator actually go toward that educator's pension, with 70% being used to pay off unfunded debt in that pension system. [27]:1 Universally, demands included raising pay. [28][29] In Oklahoma and West Virginia, respectively sources of oil and coal, demands included financing the increased spending on education through taxation focused on these industries. [30][31] Original reason for the strike included the state's plan to force teachers to use fitbit to be allowed to keep subscribing to the same healthplan or face a $500 annual fine. [32] Negotiations ongoing. Metro Nashville Public Schools has requested increased funding. [33]

Strike

Bank robbers leave empty-handed

Police have revised their advice about a Sydney bank robbery early this morning, saying the culprits left empty-handed. Two robbers in balaclavas used sledge hammers to smash their way into the bank at Bella Vista in the city's north-west about 2:40am (AEST). Police say they were initially told by a bank worker that a large sum of cash was stolen from an ATM. But subsequent investigations, including a review of security camera vision, has confirmed the thieves left without any cash. Police say the robbers arrived and left the crime scene in a black Audi sedan.

Bank Robbery

1946 Nankai earthquake

The 1946 Nankai earthquake (昭和南海地震 Shōwa Nankai jishin) was a great earthquake in Nankaidō, Japan. It occurred on December 21, 1946, at 04:19 JST (December 20, 19:19 UTC). [1] The earthquake measured between 8.1 and 8.4 on the moment magnitude scale, and was felt from Northern Honshū to Kyūshū. It occurred almost two years after the 1944 Tōnankai earthquake, which ruptured the adjacent part of the Nankai megathrust. The Nankai Trough is a convergent boundary where the Philippine Sea Plate is being subducted beneath the Eurasian Plate. Large earthquakes have been recorded along this zone since the 7th century, with a recurrence time of 100 to 200 years. [4] The 1946 Nankaido earthquake was unusual in its seismological perspective, with a rupture zone estimated from long-period geodetic data that was more than twice as large as that derived from shorter period seismic data. In the center of this earthquake rupture zone, scientists used densely deployed ocean bottom seismographs to detect a subducted seamount 13 kilometres (8 mi) thick by 50 kilometres (31 mi) wide at a depth of 10 kilometres (6 mi). Scientists propose that this seamount might work as a barrier inhibiting brittle seismogenic rupture. [4] The earthquake caused extensive damage, eventually destroying 36,000 homes in southern Honshū alone. [1] The earthquake also caused a huge tsunami that took out another 2,100 homes with its 5–6-metre (16–20-foot) waves. [1]

Earthquakes

SARS-CoV-2 infection coincident with newly diagnosed severe aplastic anemia: A report of two cases

Rohini Chakravarthy, Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 2220 Pierce Ave., 397 Preston Research Building, Nashville, TN 37232-6310, USA. Email: [email protected] Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA Corresponding Author Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA Correspondence Rohini Chakravarthy, Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 2220 Pierce Ave., 397 Preston Research Building, Nashville, TN 37232-6310, USA. Email: [email protected] Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA Department of Pathology, Microbiology, and Immunology, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, Tennessee, USA Give access Share full-text access Use the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more. Share a link To the Editor Severe aplastic anemia (SAA) is a rare, life-threatening condition associated with peripheral cytopenias and bone marrow hypocellularity.1 The pathogenesis of acquired SAA is varied; in some cases, evidence supports immune dysregulation leading to T-cell-mediated destruction of hematopoietic stem cells.2, 3 Treatments include matched sibling donor hematopoietic cell transplant, when feasible, or immunosuppressive therapy (IST).4, 5 Pediatric patients who contract severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) can develop a spectrum of illness including coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), with symptoms ranging from minimal symptoms to severe respiratory distress or postinfectious multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C).6, 7 We present two patients with SARS-CoV-2 infection coincident with new SAA diagnosis. This case report was approved by the Vanderbilt University Medical Center Institutional Review Board. Case 1: A 12-year-old female presented with pallor, fatigue, and chest tightness. Initial laboratory analysis revealed the following: white blood cell (WBC) count 2300/l, absolute neutrophil count (ANC) 280/l, absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) 1900/l, hemoglobin (Hgb) 6.3 gm/dl, reticulocyte count 34,000/l, and platelet count 10,000/l. On pre-admission screening, she tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 via polymerase chain reaction (PCR). She was diagnosed with SAA based on laboratory criteria, confirmed by bone marrow biopsy which revealed a hypocellular marrow with 10% cellularity and no evidence of malignancy (Figure 1A). Thorough evaluation of inherited and acquired etiologies of SAA did not reveal a cause. She experienced a mild clinical course of COVID-19 with fever but made a complete recovery. A sibling match was not identified, so she received IST with anti-thymoglobulin (ATG) and cyclosporine. She became transfusion independent 2 months following initiation of IST and cyclosporine wean was initiated. Case 2: An 18-year-old male presented with fatigue, headache, and fever. Labs were notable for WBC 2200/l, ANC 390/l, ALC 1690/l, Hgb 3.8 gm/dl, reticulocyte count 18,000/l, and platelet count 13,000/l. Pre-admission screening was positive for SARS-CoV-2 via PCR. Bone marrow biopsy showed 10% cellularity without evidence of malignancy (Figure 1B), confirming SAA. Extensive evaluation for inherited or acquired etiologies of SAA was unrevealing. He had no siblings and received IST with ATG and cyclosporine. While he has been transfusion independent, he was started on eltrombopag due to refractory thrombocytopenia to 20,000/l and has had a good response. Although some cases of SAA are attributed to infections, drugs/toxins, hepatitis, or underlying bone marrow failure disorders,3, 8, 9 there are a proportion that are immune mediated. In children with COVID-19 and MIS-C, studies have found elevation of various inflammatory cytokines suggesting immune dysregulation.7, 10 During an initial period of observation, our patients did not demonstrate spontaneous resolution of peripheral cytopenias and marrow hypocellularity arguing against a diagnosis of viral myelosuppression. Rather, their clinical course and response to IST has led to our hypothesis that this novel coronavirus may contribute to the typical immune-mediated pathogenesis of SAA. We acknowledge that further studies regarding this infection's effect on the immune system along with evaluation of more patients with similar presentations will be imperative to understand the mechanism of action. The authors declare no conflict of interest. Early View Online Version of Record before inclusion in an issue e29433 Detection of iron restriction in anaemic and non‐anaemic patients: New diagnostic approaches A case of severe aplastic anaemia after SARS‐CoV‐2 vaccination Aetiology of severe iron overload in a family with hereditary haemolytic anaemia SARS‐CoV‐2 as a mimicker of pulmonary metastasis in osteosarcoma Resilient health care in global pediatric oncology during the COVID‐19 pandemic The full text of this article hosted at iucr.org is unavailable due to technical difficulties. Your password has been changed Enter your email address below. Please check your email for instructions on resetting your password. If you do not receive an email within 10 minutes, your email address may not be registered,

Famous Person - Sick

Mine collapse kills 14 at Gomdok Mine

Daily NK has belatedly learned that 14 workers were killed at the end of January when a mine collapsed at the Gomdok Mining Cooperative Enterprise in South Hamgyong Province. The Gomdok Mine began a “90-day battle” to boost production at the beginning of the year. A source in South Hamgyong Province told Daily NK on Feb. 24 that “14 workers lost their lives on Jan. 26 when a mine accidentally collapsed on them as they were attempting to connect mines together at the Gomdok Mine, which has been overwhelmed by the [demands of the] 90-day battle.” “On that day, the accident was caused by the blast that occurred as the workers were attempting to connect two mines together by boring a tunnel between the main mine and the one next to it,” the source said. The source explained that “the main reason for the accident was miscalculating the time needed to escape after laying out the blasting line,” adding that “[the managers] would have had to set the timer to ensure that the blast could not occur until after the workers in the mine could get to a distance of more than 100 meters away. The blast, however, occurred before they were able to escape and the mine collapsed on them, killing them on the spot.” Daily NK has also become aware that four workers who were escaping in another direction at the time were hit by rocks from the blast and taken to the provincial hospital for major injuries such as head trauma The source mentioned that “even if accidents like this occur almost on a daily basis in both small and large mines, the mining managers are more concerned with the production goals than accident prevention.” He also added that “comments by the managers that ‘it is natural for accidents to happen when working’ is causing dissatisfaction among the workers.” Local residents aware of the situation showed their exasperation by saying that “the people who died, leaving their families behind, are the only ones suffering” and are asking why the managers are emphasizing meeting state-set production goals when people could die “at any time” in the mines. Meanwhile, the bereaved families of the workers who were killed reportedly received no other compensation other than one month’s worth of food rations. The source said that “the families who suddenly lost their main breadwinners [and forced out on the streets] are left in the difficult situation of trying to figure out how to survive.” “Mineworkers have already been living through enough hardships as the COVID-19 situation continues, and their anxiety is intensifying even further as accidents keep happening,” the source added.

Mine Collapses

Russia says will not join NATO as two sides hold rival drills

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says Russia does not intend to become a NATO member, as the Russian navy conducts military drills in the Black Sea off the shores of Crimea, and the US-led alliance holds military exercises in Ukraine. Lavrov made the comment before a meeting with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on the sidelines of the 76th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. “Don’t try your luck. Russia is not going to join NATO,” Lavrov told reporters before the behind-closed-doors meeting with the NATO chief, quipping that Brussels might attempt to convince Moscow to become a member of the military bloc. After the conclusion of the meeting, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement, saying that Lavrov and Stoltenberg discussed the current state of Russia-NATO relations. “The Russian side firmly drew attention to our concrete proposals on de-escalation of tensions and reduction of tensions at the contact line,” it said. Earlier this year, Stoltenberg said that he had proposed a face-to-face meeting between NATO and Russian officials. “The ball is now in Russia's court. I would like to invite Russia again to participate in a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council as soon as possible. We have a lot to discuss that is in the common interest of NATO and Russia,” Stoltenberg said during an interview with German television channel Welt. The NATO chief also said at the time that the two sides needed to exchange information on military maneuvers “in order to prevent misunderstanding and possible escalation,” among other issues. Rival drills in Black Sea, Ukraine On Thursday, Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement that the Russian Navy practiced firing at targets in the Black Sea off the coast of Crimea. According to the statement, Russia’s Black Sea Fleet practiced detecting and destroying sea targets with its Bastion coastal missile defense system, an advanced mobile anti-ship, and surface-to-surface defense system. Video footage released by the ministry showed divisions carrying out strikes with truck-mounted missiles. The statement further said Russian troops fired from concealed positions and employed drones to track a simulated enemy group of vessels. According to Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, the system can hit sea targets at a distance of 350 kilometers and ground targets at a distance of 450 kilometers. Meanwhile, Ukrainian troops held joint military drills with US forces in Ukraine. The exercises in the European country, involving American and other NATO troops, are scheduled to run until October 1. Earlier this month, Russia and Belarus also held massive military drills. Relations between Ukraine and Russia have been deteriorating since 2014, when the then Ukrainian territory of Crimea voted in a referendum to fall under Russian sovereignty. The US and the European Union-backed Kiev refused to recognize the referendum results, later imposing sanctions on Moscow. Ukraine as well as the EU and the US claim Russia has a hand in an ongoing conflict that erupted in the Donbass region of Ukraine between government forces and ethnic Russians in 2014. The West imposed sanctions on Russia after accusing it of interfering in the conflict. Moscow denies the allegation.

Military Exercise

1954 Rainbow Mountain-Fairview Peak-Dixie Valley earthquakes

In 1954, the state of Nevada was struck by a series of earthquakes that began with three M 6.0+ events in July and August that preceded the M 7.3 mainshock and M 6.9 aftershock, both on December 12. All five earthquakes remain some of the largest in the state, and the largest since the Cedar Mountain earthquake (M 7.2) of 1932 and Pleasant Valley event (M 6.8) in 1915. The earthquake was felt throughout much of the western United States. The state of Nevada sits within a geologic province known as the Basin and Range. The Basin and Range Province is bounded by the Colorado Plateau, Wasatch Fault, Rio Grande Rift and Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt. This region in the North American continent is rifting apart in a northwest–southeast direction. Extension of the crust has resulted in a basin and range topography, dominated by dip-slip (normal) faults accommodating extension. [1] Fault block tilting has created many mountain range no more than 16 km wide and 130 km long. [1] In eastern Nevada, along the border with California, faulting mechanism is dominantly strike-slip in a shear zone known as Walker Lane. These faults also causes earthquakes to rattle the state, making Nevada the third most seismically active state in the USA, behind Alaska and California. The first earthquake that would be followed-up by numerous large shocks occurred on July 6. [2] The event had a magnitude of 6.8 and its focal mechanism was oblique-slip along the Rainbow Mountain Fault. An aftershock of Mw 6.2 came just eleven hours after the M 6.8. It was situated at Salt Wells Marsh, next to the Austin Highway. The shock had a maximum intensity of IX to XII on the Mercalli intensity scale. On August 24, an Mw 6.6 earthquake with similar mechanism struck north at the Stillwater National Wildlife Refuge. Surface rupture was measured for 33.1 km. [3] The maximum intensities for this earthquakes was IX (Violent). [4][5] It damaged dams and irrigation facilities around Lovelock. On December 16, the largest earthquake in the sequence, the Mw 7.3 earthquake was triggered by oblique-slip displacement along the Fairview Peak, West Gate and Gold King Faults for a total length of 64.4 km. Fault scarps of 7 meters in height were seen for 102 meters in the valley. [6] Shaking intensity from this earthquake reached X to XII (Extreme) on the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale. This earthquake was felt for an area of 518,000 square km. [8] Four minutes and 20 seconds after the Fairview earthquake, an Mw 6.9-7.0 earthquake struck west of Humboldt Salt Marsh along the Dixie Valley Fault Zone. [5] This event ruptured a separate fault for 46.7 km. Numerous aftershocks were triggered in the wake of the earthquake including an Mw 6.0 on March 23, 1959. Numerous fault scarps and offset stream channels were reported as a result of surface ruptures. [27] The July 6 earthquake caused some destruction in the town of Fallon. Old and poorly built, un-reinforced brick structures were severely damaged, and many chimneys fell as a result. Twelve sailors were injured at the Naval Auxiliary Air Station when shaking knocked heavy steel lockers and shattered glass onto them, the most serious injury was a broken leg. [28] At Lone Tree and Stillwater District, some limited was reported. Canals and drainage systems of the Newlands Reclamation Project near Fallon were damaged heavily due to liquefaction from dam failure. [3] Many culverts were damaged or had collapsed. Highways in the Fallon-Stillwater areas cracked and buckled in some places. A road dropped nearly a meter for more than 300 meters. [29] President Eisenhower declared the region a disaster area and made available $200,000 of disaster relief funding. [3] The August earthquake caused further destruction to Fallon; seven more structures had to be torn down due to the severity of the damage. More windows, water pipelines and chimneys were broken. The earthquake also totally wrecked repair works done after the July shock. [3] The December 16 main shocks frightened the residents of Fallon, many of them did not stay in their homes during the winter night. In Reno, the earthquake was felt strongly by many. Plasters fell from the Nevada State Capitol Building in Carson. [30] Fissures up to 30 inches wide opened in highways and the landscape. [31] The earthquakes also triggered rockfalls and deposited large boulders onto highways. US-50 experienced some buckling and cracks, and some roads dropped more than 1.5 meters due to surface faulting. [8] In Sacramento, 322 km away, the earthquake caused some $20,000 in damages to a water tank belonging to the city's filtration plant. [8] Fault scarps can still be visited in the affected area.

Earthquakes

Jamaica's Elaine Thompson-Herah breaks 33-year-old 100 meter Olympic record

2016 Rio Olympics champion Elaine Thompson-Herah led the way for an all-Jamaican sweep of the podium in the women's 100m final at the Tokyo Olympics on Saturday. In the Olympic Stadium, Elaine, the defending champion, clinched the gold medal with a new Olympic record of 10.61 seconds. Her compatriots, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce took the silver medal with 10.74 seconds, while Shericka Jackson clocked 10.76 seconds for the bronze medal. Elaine's timing in Tokyo broke the Olympics record of 33 years set by American Florence Griffith-Joyner in 1988. She is also the second Jamaican woman to defend her title in the event, after Shelly-Ann's back-to-back wins in 2008 and 2012. The win also continues Jamaica's domination in the event, winning the gold since the 2008 Beijing Olympics and finishing in the top three since the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. Jamaica's last clean sweep in the event came in the Bird's Nest Stadium at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Back then, Shelly-Ann triumphed with a gold-medal winning timing of 10.78 seconds. Her teammates, Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart shared the silver medal with a timing of 10.98 seconds. Shelly-Ann, the fastest sprinter from the qualifiers, was the quickest to start out of the eight women in the final. At one point, she was neck-in-neck with Elaine. But Shelly-Ann could not surge past her compatriot in the second half of the race. Elaine increased her speed and created a gap enough for her to celebrate with a left salute even before crossing the line. Overall, six women ran under 11 seconds, making the race as one of the fastest in history. Marie-Josee Ta Lou of the Ivory Coast came fourth behind the troika of Jamaican sprinters. The Switzerland duo of Ajla Del Ponte and Mujinga Kambundji finished fifth and sixth respectively. (Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.) Dear Reader, Business Standard has always strived hard to provide up-to-date information and commentary on developments that are of interest to you and have wider political and economic implications for the country and the world. Your encouragement and constant feedback on how to improve our offering have only made our resolve and commitment to these ideals stronger. Even during these difficult times arising out of Covid-19, we continue to remain committed to keeping you informed and updated with credible news, authoritative views and incisive commentary on topical issues of relevance. We, however, have a request. As we battle the economic impact of the pandemic, we need your support even more, so that we can continue to offer you more quality content. Our subscription model has seen an encouraging response from many of you, who have subscribed to our online content. More subscription to our online content can only help us achieve the goals of offering you even better and more relevant content. We believe in free, fair and credible journalism. Your support through more subscriptions can help us practise the journalism to which we are committed.

Break historical records

MGM Grand fire

The MGM Grand fire occurred on Friday, November 21, 1980 at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino (now Bally's Las Vegas), located on the Las Vegas Strip in Paradise, Nevada. The fire killed 85 people, most through smoke inhalation. [1] The fire began from a refrigerated pastry display case in one of the restaurants, located on the first floor. Fire engulfed the resort's casino, and smoke travelled into the hotel tower. The tragedy remains the deadliest disaster in Nevada history, and the third-deadliest hotel fire in modern U.S. history, after the 1946 Winecoff Hotel fire in Atlanta that killed 119 people and the 1986 Dupont Plaza Hotel fire in Puerto Rico that killed 97. [2][3] The incident led to the reformation of fire safety guidelines and codes in the state. At the time of the fire, about 5,000 people were in the MGM Grand, a casino and 26-story hotel with more than 2,000 hotel rooms, opened in 1973. [4][5] At approximately 7:07 a.m. on Friday, November 21, 1980, a fire began in a restaurant known as The Deli. The fire was discovered during an inspection of the restaurant by a tile crew. A crew supervisor noticed a flickering light, which turned out to be a wall of flames. [6][7] An employee of the hotel's bakery recounted how just after 7 a.m. he saw smoke coming from the ceiling vents and the lights went out. [8] MGM security was immediately advised of the situation, and alerted the Clark County Fire Department (CCFD) which was the first agency to respond. CCFD received a call reporting the fire at 7:17 am, with the first engine arriving on site from across the street at 7:19 am. [7][9] A third alarm was called at 7:22 am, and a Metro Police helicopter pilot requested all available helicopters at 7:30 am. [9] Other agencies included the North Las Vegas Fire Department, Las Vegas Fire & Rescue, and the Henderson Fire Department. A massive helicopter rescue effort from Nellis Air Force Base pulled 1,000 people from the roof of the MGM Grand,[6][10][11] involving both U.S. Air Force UH-1N (Hueys) from the 57th Wing based in Indian Springs and CH-3E (Jolly Green Giants) from the 1st Special Operations Wing based in Hurlburt Field, Florida (which were in Nevada to participate in Red Flag '80). [citation needed] The fire spread to the lobby, fed by wallpaper, PVC piping, glue, and plastic mirrors, racing west through the casino floor at a speed of 15–19 ft/s (4.6–5.8 m/s; 10–13 mph; 16–21 km/h) until a massive fireball blew out the main entrance, facing the Las Vegas Strip. From the time the fire was noticed, it took six minutes for the entire casino floor to be fully engulfed. [7][12][13] It spread across the areas of the casino in which no fire sprinklers were installed. Eighteen people died in the casino level of the hotel. [14] The fire was limited to the first floor,[15] although the burning material created toxic fumes and smoke, which ascended throughout the hotel tower via vertical shafts (elevators and stairwells) and seismic joints, causing the majority of the deaths. [16] More than 200 firefighters responded to the fire,[17] and some reported having to crawl through the dark and over "mounds of stuff" trying to extinguish the fire. It was later determined that the "mounds" were deceased guests and staff near an elevator bank. [6] The Las Vegas fire department operated separately from the county fire department; the latter served the Las Vegas Strip, so city firefighters were unfamiliar with the MGM's layout, including fire escape routes. This hindered the rescue effort. [18] Proper evacuation of the hotel guests was also hindered as there was no automatic means of returning elevators to the main floor during a fire, causing 10 deceased victims to be found in an elevator. [14] Some hotel guests tied bedsheets together and hung them on balconies to alert first responders. Some tried using the bedsheets to descend the hotel's exterior. [8][19] Fire ladders were only able to reach the ninth-floor exterior. [20] One man escaped the hotel tower by lowering himself down a rope. [21][22] Some people, trapped in their hotel rooms, broke open their windows to get fresh air, although this allowed thicker smoke from outside to come into the rooms. [15] People below had to dodge shards of glass falling from the broken hotel windows. [23][24][25] An expansion of the MGM was underway at the time of the fire, and a construction worker used a scaffolding platform to lower guests to the ground, after they had escaped through their hotel room windows. [23] The Barbary Coast casino across the street was set up as an evacuation center for MGM guests. [24][26] A total of 85 people were killed (including seven employees) and 650 injured, including guests, employees, and 14 firefighters. [1] While the fire primarily damaged the second-floor casino and adjacent restaurants, 61 deaths were on the upper floors of the hotel (19th - 24th floors), mostly in the stairwells, where all doors except on the roof and ground floor were locked and the smoke concentration was the highest. [27] One young couple died in their sleep. [28] Seventy-five people died from smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning; four from smoke inhalation alone; three from burns and smoke inhalation; one from burns alone; one from massive skull trauma, caused by jumping from a high window; and one of myocarditis. [1] The disaster led to the general publicizing of the fact that during a building fire, smoke inhalation is a more serious threat than flames. [citation needed] Two refrigerated semi-trailers were set up as temporary morgues to hold the bodies of victims until they could be identified. [29] The fire was confined to the casino and restaurant areas. The hotel was equipped with a fire sprinkler system that performed properly by keeping the fire out of other sections of the building. The area with the most fire prevention was in the money counting area, not in individual rooms or on the casino floor. [30] The county's fire chief had been concerned that such a fire could occur, as older hotels built prior to 1979 were not required to have certain fire safety features. [24][31] Nevada governor Robert List said, "You can't force people to bring hotels up to codes that didn't exist when they were built. "[24] For years after its opening, the resort had declined orders to install a second fire hose in one of its showrooms. As of June 1980, only 20 percent of fire safety violations – discovered two months earlier by inspectors – had been corrected. [32] The fire was caused by an electrical ground fault inside a wall-mounted electrical receptacle. [33][34] A refrigerated pastry display case was added, after original construction of the hotel, to one of its restaurants (known as The Deli). [30] Unlike a modern display case, which would be totally self-contained (compressor installed in bottom of display case), this unit functioned like a walk-in cooler or central air conditioning system, with a pair of copper refrigerant lines connecting its evaporator to a condensing unit located outside the building.

Fire

2004 Qamishli riots

Syrian Government Supported by: The 2004 Qamishli riots were an uprising by Syrian Kurds in the northeastern city of Qamishli in March 2004. The riots started during a chaotic football match, when some Arab fans of the guest team started raising pictures of Saddam Hussein, an action that angered the Kurdish fans of the host team, because of Hussein's Anfal campaign against Iraqi Kurds. Both groups began throwing stones at each other. The Ba'ath Party local office was burned down by Kurdish demonstrators, leading to the security forces reacting. The Syrian army responded quickly, deploying troops backed by tanks and helicopters, and launching a crack-down. Events climaxed when Kurds in Qamishli toppled a statue of Hafez al-Assad. At least 30 Kurds were killed as the security services re-asserted control over the city. [4] As a result of the crackdown, thousands of Syrian Kurds fled to Iraqi Kurdistan. Member State of the Arab League (Suspended)  Asia portal  History portal Qamishli is the largest town in Al-Hasakah Governorate and is located in northeast Syria. It is regarded as the Kurdish and Assyrian community capital. It is also the center of the Syrian Kurdish struggle,[5] especially in the recent years. The Kurds also felt opposition from the Syrian government in 1962, forty years before, when the government took census and left out of it many Kurds. This left them and their children without citizenship and the right to obtain government jobs or to have property. This disregarded minority now consists of hundreds of thousands of Kurds, who carry identification cards as "foreigner". Another move the government made which has fueled tensions was resettling Arabs from other parts of the country into along the border in Iran, Iraq and Turkey. They did this in order to build a buffer between Kurdish areas, which has furthered the hatred between the Kurds and Arabs. [6] The United States has for a longer period of time recognized Iraqi Kurdistan diplomatically which has led the Americans to invite the current Kurdish leader of Iraqi Kurdistan, Masoud Barzani, to the White House and a meeting in Baghdad when the American president was in town. The visit from United States Vice President, Joe Biden, to the fourth largest city in Iraq, Erbil, also known as the Iraqi Kurdistan capital, helped strengthen their alliance with them. [7] The United States started Operation Provide Comfort and Operation Provide Comfort II in an attempt to defend Kurds fleeing their homes in Northern Iraq as a result of the Iraqi Gulf War. Kurdish representation in Iraqi government has increased since the American invasion in 2003. Jalal Talabani, the first Kurdish president of Iraq, was elected in 2005, and Kurds have held the presidential seat since, although the position is somewhat ornamental. [8][9] On 12 March 2004, a football match in Qamishli between a local Kurdish team and an Arab team from Deir ez-Zor in Syria's southeast sparked violent clashes between fans of the opposing sides which spilled into the streets of the city. The fans of the Arab team reportedly rode about town in a bus, insulting the Iraqi Kurdish leaders Masoud Barzani and Jalal Talabani, then leaders of Iraqi Kurdistan's two main parties, and brandishing portraits of deposed Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein, whose infamous Al-Anfal Campaign killed an estimated 182,000 Kurdish civilians in Iraq. In response, Kurdish fans supposedly proclaimed "We will sacrifice our lives for Bush", referring to US President George W. Bush, who invaded Iraq in 2003, deposing Saddam and triggering the Iraq War. Tensions between the groups came to a head, and the Deir ez-Zor Arab fans attacked the Kurdish fans with sticks, stones, and knives. Government security forces brought in to quell the riot, fired into the crowd, killing six people, including three children—all of them were Kurds. [10] The Ba'ath Party local office was burned down by the demonstrators, leading to the security forces responding and killing more than 15 of the rioters and wounding more than 100. [11] Officials in Qamishli alleged that some Kurdish parties were collaborating with "foreign forces" to supposedly annex some villages in the area to northern Iraq. [12][13][14] Events climaxed when Kurds in Qamishli toppled a statue of Hafez al-Assad. The Syrian army responded quickly, deploying thousands of troops backed by tanks and helicopters. At least 30 Kurds were killed as the security services re-took the city, over 2,000 were arrested at that time or subsequently. [4] After the violence, President Bashar al-Assad visited the region aiming to achieve a "national unity" and supposedly pardoned 312 Kurds who were prosecuted of participating in the massacre. [6] After the 2004 events in Qamishli, thousands of Kurds fled to the Kurdish Region of Iraq. [15] Local authorities there, the UNHCR and other UN agencies established the Moqebleh camp at a former Army base near Dohuk. Several years later the KRG moved all refugees, who arrived before 2005, to housing in a second camp, known as Qamishli. The camp consists of a modest housing development with dozens of concrete block houses and a mosque. The original camp at the former Army citadel now contains about 300 people. Many of the homes are made of cement blocks, covered with plastic tarpaulins. Latrines and showers are in separate buildings down the street. Authorities provide electricity, water trucks and food rations. [16] Kurds can leave the camp to work. As supposed refugees they cannot get government jobs, but are able work in the private sector, often as construction workers or drivers. The Kurds seem likely not to return to Syria until political conditions change. In June 2005, thousands of Kurds demonstrated in Qamishli to protest the assassination of Sheikh Khaznawi, a Kurdish cleric in Syria, resulting in the death of one policeman and injury to four Kurds. [17][18] In March 2008, according to Human Rights Watch,[19] Syrian security forces opened fire at Kurds who were celebrating the spring festival of Nowruz. The shooting killed three people. On 21 March 2008, the Kurdish New Year (Newroz) a school class held a 5 minute vigil in memory of the 2004 Qamishli riots. The participants were investigated for holding the vigil. [20] With the eruption of the Syrian Civil War, the city of Qamishli became one of the protest arenas. On 12 March 2011, thousands of Syrian Kurds in Qamishli and al-Hasakah protested on the day of the Kurdish martyr, an annual event since 2004 al-Qamishli protests.

Riot

A boy postpones his wedding reception for the worsened Covid-19 pandemic

SINGAPORE (THE NEW PAPER) - As the Covid-19 pandemic worsened in March, Ah Boys To Men star Maxi Lim postponed his wedding reception, writing on Instagram that it was "the most socially responsible thing to do". But when he and his wife, influencer Lizy Teo, who registered their marriage in late March, finally held the reception at One Degree 15 Marina in Sentosa Cove on Sunday (Dec 20), some attendees allegedly threw caution to the wind by ignoring safe management measures. In videos and photos of the event posted on social media, Mr Lim's Ah Boys To Men cast members Charlie Goh, Joshua Tan and Noah Yap, emcee Justin Misson and others, including influencer Nicole Choo and comedians Fakkah Fuzz and Jai Kishan, can be seen performing and playing games onstage without wearing masks or face shields. Some guests at the reception were also seen intermingling and not wearing their masks during the march-in. A reader who tipped off The New Paper on Tuesday said he had made a complaint to the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) after seeing the posts. The reader, who is in his 30s and declined to be named, said: "I held my wedding recently and I am aware how the guidelines may put a damper on the joyous occasion. "However, just like other couples who got married during this period, we know the importance of these guidelines and many of us, with constant reminders from the venue provider, followed (them) despite all the inconveniences," he added. "To see a public figure ignoring such guidelines blatantly is disheartening. It is also ironic to see public figures breaking the rules when they had been advocating the public to observe safe management measures." STB director of hotel and sector manpower Tan Yen Nee told TNP in a statement that STB is aware of the allegations and is investigating. Under current rules, wedding receptions cannot exceed 100 people split across multiple zones of up to 50 people each. Receptions with more than 20 attendees must be split into a designated core wedding party of up to 20 people, including the bride and groom, and groups of up to five people for the remaining guests. It is not clear which of the attendees at Mr Lim's reception were in the core wedding party. A safe distance of at least 1m must be observed between groups and the wedding party at all times, including for photo-taking. Live performances are not allowed, and event emcees and people making speeches are also required to wear face shields or masks when speaking onstage. Said Ms Tan: "STB... takes a serious view of any breach in safe management measures within hotel premises... Strict enforcement action will be taken against errant businesses or individuals, which may include fines, temporary closure and prosecution to the full extent of the law." One Degree 15 Marina's acting general manager, Mr Jonathan Sit, said before any wedding, its operations team will brief the couple and wedding coordinators on the necessary measures, and go through the programme to ensure there are no games, singing or shouting. "Should there be breaches during the wedding, our staff and managers will immediately tell the guests and even the wedding couple to stay in their seats," he said. Mr Sit did not say whether the club had done this during Mr Lim's wedding reception, and did not directly address queries on the alleged breaches. He added: "As a venue operator, we share the same challenges that government-appointed social distancing officers across the island face every day in doing their jobs, but we will continue to carry out all these measures that we have already put in place." The Straits Times reported on Monday that One Degree 15 Marina was one of 10 hotels and hostels to have been fined for breaching safe management measures. Fly Entertainment, which manages several of the attendees at the wedding, told TNP that it takes the safety measures and regulations to curb the spread of Covid-19 very seriously. "We have been reminding and will continue to remind our artistes and staff to adhere to all safety measures strictly, whether at work or for personal engagements," said a spokesman. "We have advised our artistes involved in this incident to cooperate with the authorities for any investigation." Mr Lim and other guests that TNP contacted did not respond to queries by press time.

Famous Person - Marriage

Happy Valley Racecourse fire

The Happy Valley Racecourse fire (Chinese: 跑馬地馬場大火) took place on 26 February 1918 in the Happy Valley Racecourse located at Happy Valley, Hong Kong. The catastrophe caused the loss of 614 lives. [1] The racecourse was first built in 1845 to provide horse racing for the British people in Hong Kong. The area was previously swampland, but the only flat ground suitable for horse racing on Hong Kong Island. To make way for the racecourse, the Hong Kong government prohibited rice growing by villages in the surrounding area. The first race ran in December 1846. Over the years, horse racing became more and more popular among Chinese residents. The annual "Derby Day" race was held every February. To accommodate the extra spectators a temporary grandstand was built. The fire was caused by the collapse of a temporary grandstand on the second day of the event. The collapse knocked over food stalls which set bamboo matting ablaze. The district’s fire department was so stretched that the marine police were called up to help fight the fire. [2] By the next day, as many as 576 confirmed deaths were reported by the Hongkong Telegraph. Most of the dead bodies became unrecognisable and assumed to be "Chinese". The nearby Tung Wah Hospital was one of the first to offer assistance and after the fire arranged for labourers to collect the dead. They were buried in the nearby So Kon Po area (now the site of Hong Kong Stadium). A Chinese-styled memorial site known as Race Course Fire Memorial was built in the Chinese cemetery (now behind the east stand of the stadium) in 1922 in So Kon Po. It was declared a monument in 2015. [3][4]

Fire

The United States has concluded a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the Republic of Korea, making it the latest such agreement reached under the president's trade-promotion authority (TPA)

By Kathryn McConnellUSINFO Staff Writer Washington -- The United States has concluded a free-trade agreement (FTA) with the Republic of Korea, making it the latest such agreement reached under the president's trade-promotion authority (TPA), the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) announced April 2. The agreement was concluded April 1, the last day TPA allows the president to submit free-trade agreements to Congress for an up or down vote, without amendments. Congress will have 90 days to consider the agreement before trade-promotion authority expires on June 30. With the pending expiration of TPA, also called fast-track authority, the United States does not plan to start any new FTA negotiations, said Sean McCormack, state department spokesman. Fast-track authority was granted to President Bush in 2001, when the House of Representatives was controlled by Republicans. With Democrats now in control in Congress, renewal of TPA is uncertain. The Korea FTA is the "most commercially significant" free-trade agreement the United States has reached in more than 10 years, or since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), according to a USTR press release. The negotiations that led to the U.S.-Korea FTA demonstrate "that two countries with large, complex and dynamic economies, and a tradition of robust public involvement can work through challenges and craft a high-quality free trade agreement," said Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Karan Bhatia. South Korea is the world's 10th-largest economy and the United States' seventh-largest trading partner. The United States is Korea's third-largest market. Two-way trade in goods between the two countries carried an estimated value of $72 billion in 2006, USTR said. When implemented, the United States-Korea Free Trade Agreement (KORUS FTA) would expand trade and investment flows between the two countries across a comprehensive list of economic sectors including agriculture, industrial and consumer products, automobiles and textiles, USTR said. The agreement also would further enhance the U.S.-Korea partnership that has been "a force for stability and prosperity in Asia," President Bush said in an April 2 statement. U.S. business groups have urged swift adoption of a U.S.-Korea FTA, which had been in negotiations for 10 months. Under the agreement, more than $1 billion worth of U.S. farm exports to Korea would become duty-free immediately and most remaining agricultural tariffs would be phased out over the first 10 years after the agreement is enacted. More than 90 percent of bilateral trade in industrial and consumer goods would become duty-free in three years after enactment with remaining tariffs eliminated within 10 years, USTR said. The agreement would eliminate Korea's engine displacement-based tax system for imported cars. The United States says that system discriminates against U.S.-made autos, which generally are larger than domestically produced Korean cars. The pact also would ensure that U.S. investors in Korea have the same rights as Korean investors and that intellectual property rights (IPR) are protected. It would require both the United States and Korea to enforce their environmental and labor laws and would establish mechanisms for enhancing cooperation in safeguarding labor rights and environmental protections. The full texts of a press release announcing the agreement and Bhatia's prepared remarks are available on the USTR Web site. Bush's letter to Congress concerning the agreement is available on the White House Web site.

Sign Agreement

Inside Jeezy and Jeannie Mai’s Intimate Wedding Ceremony at Their Home in Atlanta

Emmy award–winning TV host and activist Jeannie Mai and Grammy-nominated recording artist, entrepreneur, and philanthropist Jeezy were married in an intimate ceremony at their home in Atlanta on March 27, 2021, one year after their engagement. The couple met when he was a guest on her daytime talk show The Real. “Years later, he asked me out on a date,” Jeannie remembers. “We shared a romantic sushi dinner in Los Angeles and salsa danced the night away. Later that evening, he asked if I could picture spending the rest of my life with him. And crazy enough, I could.” In March 2020, the couple was forced to cancel a planned trip to Vietnam, where unbeknownst to Jeannie, Jeezy had planned to propose. Instead, he put together a special quarantine Vietnam-themed date night, in honor of her home country, at his house in Los Angeles that ended with him popping the question in front of the fireplace. She said, “Yes!” The couple wanted to get married at Lake Como or in the South of France. “We were really looking forward to having all of our friends and family there to celebrate,” Jeannie says. “But we had to change all of our wedding plans due to COVID. After Jeezy’s mother unexpectedly passed, we quickly learned that life is too short. And at the end of the day, Jeezy and I really just wanted to become husband and wife. So we decided to turn our original wedding into a mini-mony, where we exchanged our vows in front of our immediate family and a few close friends.” In order to make their event as safe as possible for everyone in attendance, they required negative COVID-19 test results from those traveling in two days prior to the wedding. In addition to that, on the day of the ceremony, they provided COVID-19 tests for everyone attending. “Once everyone was tested and confirmed negative, our guests were shuttled to the surprise location—our home,” Jeannie says. The couple worked with Suzanne Reinhard to plan everything. “She followed through with our details exactly as requested and minimized any stress,” Jeannie notes. “She made it so enjoyable!” Jeannie always knew she wanted to wear a dress by Galia Lahav, and conceptualizing the look was one of her favorite parts of the wedding planning process. “I collaborated with my stylist Lisa Cera and the Galia Lahav atelier to custom design the layers and the perfect hue,” Jeannie says. “The finished product was everything I envisioned.” Cera searched high and low for matching nude appliqués and hand-placed them on the dress for an especially unique design. “For hair and makeup, I wanted a sleek and graceful finish, along with a bit of drama,” Jeannie says, “so Lisa and I worked on a handmade headpiece with a 15-foot Galia Lahav veil. My hairstylist, Kristen, impressively sewed this into my hair.” Jewelry was kept minimal, and the bride’s friend Rosalina Lydster created diamond and morganite drop earrings that tied everything together. Jeezy also wanted a custom design for the wedding day, so he called upon his favorite tailor, Teofilo Flor , and stylist Kris Shelby to create a champagne blush suit that projected strength and sophistication but with a bit of playfulness too. Meanwhile, guests were asked to wear off-white, a color that, to the couple, represents the peace in their union. The service took place in the open garden at the couple’s home against a backdrop of magnolia, birch, and maple trees—a setting that was both intimate and familial. “Everywhere you went, there were tall glass candles lighting your path,” Jeannie says. “And, we had a live band, Trap Jazz, perform our favorite songs.” As guests arrived, cell phones were checked at the door before everyone descended downstairs towards the open garden. After each family member proceeded down the aisle, the father of the groom laid a single pink rose on a seat reserved for the late Sharon Denise Jenkins, Jeezy’s mother. Author and pastor John Maxwell waited at the altar as Jeezy made his way down the aisle to “I Can’t Stop Loving You” by Kem. The bride followed afterwards to “How Deep Is Your Love” by the Bee Gees. Then, Jeannie’s brother kicked things off with a twist on tradition—the Vietnamese tea ceremony. “He led Jeezy and I in a ritual performed at Vietnamese weddings,” Jeannie remembers. “In this ceremony, we honored our parents by pouring tea as a gesture to welcome Jeezy into my family, and me into his. Then we paid our respects to our parents and ancestors by bowing four times, each one symbolizing a significant gift in the life that they have provided us with.” Following the tea ceremony, the couple exchanged vows of commitment and then sealed it all with a kiss. Afterwards, Jeezy surprised Jeannie by having Tyrese serenade them for their first dance to “Sweet Lady.” “The entire night was filled with speeches and funny memories from all our guests,” the bride says. “Not to be outdone, my mother, Mama Mai, kicked off the after-party with a special performance of her own.” To continue the celebration, the group ultimately moved the after-party into the couple’s lounge, where guests were gifted custom monogrammed Cozy Earth pajamas and slippers. “Jeezy and I changed into our own special matching Versace silk pajamas,” Jeannie says. “And then we danced the night away to our favorite hits, feeling cozier than ever.” “I got dressed by myself before I walked down the aisle,” Jeannie says. “The quiet calms me, and I was so thankful to be in our very own home as I got ready.” Photo: Denis Reggie “I’m ready for my new life,” Jeezy says, pictured here before the ceremony. Photo: Denis Reggie “I envisioned this gown before it was even made,” Jeannie says. “I can’t believe it turned out so perfect. It’s the most beautiful gown I have ever seen.” Photo: Denis Reggie “I couldn’t wipe this smile off my face all day,” Jeannie says. “I was going to meet my husband in moments.” Photo: Denis Reggie “These stairs are our favorite place in our home,” Jeannie says. “They symbolize our aspiration to help each other grow.”

Famous Person - Marriage

Suspect at large after Belvidere bank robbery

BELVIDERE, Ill. (WIFR) - Belvidere police are searching for a bank robbery suspect after Midland States Bank was robbed Monday morning. According to Belvidere police, around 10 a.m. officers were sent to Midland States Bank at 600 S. State St. for a bank robbery in progress. Once the suspect was given an undisclosed amount of currency he fled south from the bank on foot. Police say the suspect fled the scene on foot, jumping a fence on 2nd Street heading south. The suspect, described as a dark-skinned man, 6 feet tall, thin build, in his 20′s, wearing a dark colored stocking cap and mask, white with grey stripe zip up, hooded, Nike sweatshirt, entered the bank and demanded money from the teller. No injuries have been reported, police say the suspect was not believed to have been armed. The Illinois State Police used their K-9 team to track the suspects direction of travel but was ultimately unsuccessful in locating the suspect. Belvidere police detective’s and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, are conducting a joint investigation. Anyone with information pertaining to this or any other investigation is encouraged to contact the Belvidere Police Department at 815-544-2135. Anonymous reports can be made by contacting, 24 hours a day, Boone County Crimestoppers at 815-544-7867(815-547-STOP) and BOONECOUNTYCRIMESTOPPERS.COM. Persons with information leading to an arrest can be awarded a cash reward of up to $1000.

Bank Robbery

Mali timeline: From military coup to interim leaders removed

Malian army officers angry with a government reshuffle have detained President Bah Ndaw and Prime Minister Moctar Ouane, who were appointed in September under international pressure with the task of steering the country back to full civilian rule in the wake of an August 2020 coup. Colonel Assimi Goita, the leader of last year’s power grab and vice president of the interim government, accused the pair of violating the transitional charter and said elections will take place next year as planned. With Mali facing yet another political crisis nine months after the overthrow of President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita , here is a timeline of all the major political developments in the country: In the early hours of August 18, after months of anti-government protests, mutinous soldiers take up arms at a key base in Kati, a garrison town some 15km (nine miles) from the capital, Bamako, while armoured tanks and military vehicles are seen on the streets. A few hours later, Keita and Prime Minister Boubou Cisse are detained by military officers, in a dramatic escalation of the country’s months-long crisis. At around midnight, Keita, whose term was set to expire in 2023, announces that he is resigning from his post, saying he does not wish blood to be shed. In the early hours of August 19, the military officers who overthrew Keita pledged to restore stability and oversee a transitional period until elections are held within a “reasonable” timeframe. The coup makers, who call themselves the National Committee for the Salvation of the People (CNSP), also say that “ a transitional president ” will be appointed either from civilian or military ranks. The coup, however, is widely condemned by the international community, with the main regional bloc, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), suspending Mali from its institutions, shutting borders and halting financial flows with the country. On August 20 and 21, opposition supporters flood into Bamako’s central square to celebrate Keita’s overthrow, hailed by their leaders as a “victory of the Malian people”. On August 22, a key meeting between Mali’s coup leaders and ECOWAS mediators seeking a return to civilian rule ends after just 20 minutes. Former Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan, second left, is leading negotiations for the ECOWAS delegation following the latest coup in Mali [File: Annie Risemberg/AFP] The military government wants a military-led transitional body to rule the country for three years and agrees to release Keita, an ECOWAS source says on August 23. Talks between the delegation and the coup leader end on August 24 without a deal on how the county should return to civilian rule. On August 26, the European Union suspends its two training missions of Mali’s army and police as part of an international effort to stabilise the country. Coup leaders on August 27 release Keita, who returns to his home in the Sebenikoro district of Bamako. On August 28, ECOWAS says the military must transfer power to a civilian-led transitional government immediately and hold elections within a year. In exchange, Mali’s West African neighbours will commit to gradually lifting sanctions. The military rulers on August 29 postpone their first meeting with civic groups, political organisations and former rebels due to “organisational reasons”. On September 5, the military government begins talks with opposition groups in Bamako. However, less than an hour after the opening ceremony, supporters of the June 5 Movement (M5-RFP) – which spearheaded the demonstrations that led to the toppling of Keita – begin to protest, accusing the military government of excluding them from most working groups. Also on September 5, Keita leaves the country seeking medical treatment in the United Arab Emirates after being hospitalised in Bamako following his 10-day detention. The final statement of an ECOWAS summit in Niger’s capital, Niamey, on September 7, says that a civilian transitional president and prime minister “must be appointed no later than September 15”. On September 10, about 500 people in Bamako attended a three-day “national consultation” among political parties, unions and members of civil society groups to mark the second round of discussion to map a way forward to return the country to civilian rule. On the second day of the talks, on September 11, experts appointed by the military rulers propose a two-year transitional government led by an interim president chosen by the army. On September 13, the military government pushes through a political charter to establish an 18-month transitional government with the appointment of a soldier or a civilian as interim president before elections are held. On the same day, the M5-RFP rejects the charter, accusing the military rules of a “desire to monopolise and confiscate power”. ECOWAS’s September 15 deadline passes without the regional mediators being able to persuade the coup makers of handing over power to a civilian government. On September 21, Mali’s former Defence Minister Bah Ndaw is named as president of the country’s new transition government, while Goita is appointed vice president. On September 22, Goita asks for the lifting of ECOWAS’s economic sanctions given that an interim president had been appointed. On September 25, Ndaw and Goita are sworn in as Mali’s interim president and vice president in Bamako. Ndaw on September 27 appoints former Malian Foreign Minister Moctar Ouane as prime minister, opening the way for the country’s neighbours to lift sanctions imposed after the August coup. On October 6, ECOWAS lifts sanctions in order to “support” the handover to civilian rule. Former Prime Minister Boubou Cisse, Moussa Timbine, former head of the national assembly, and eight generals detained during the coup are released on October 7. On October 9, the African Union lifts its suspension of Mali, citing “significant advances” towards a return to democracy in the country. On December 5, Mali’s interim legislature elects Colonel Malick Diaw, a member of the military government, as its president. On December 31, the public prosecutor’s office says that six people , including Cisse, the prime minister before the August coup, were under investigation for “plotting against the government, criminal association, insulting the head of state and complicity”. On April 15, the transitional government announces that the presidential and legislative elections will take place in February 2022. The first round of voting will take place on February 27, with a second round following in March. Lieutenant Colonel Abdoulaye Maiga, the minister of territorial administration, says the dates “strictly uphold” promises of an 18-month transition for returning to an elected government. Ouane resigns as prime minister on May 14, just days after the M5-RFP opposition movement demanded the dissolution of the transitional government in the face of growing anger about the military’s prominent role and the slowness of reforms. But Ouane is then immediately reappointed to carry out a reshuffle as the country’s interim government is set to form a new “broad-based” cabinet in the face of the growing criticism. On May 24, the government reshuffle is announced. The military keeps the strategic portfolios it controlled during the previous administration in the reshuffle, but two coup leaders – ex-Defence Minister Sadio Camara and ex-Security Minister Colonel Modibo Kone – are replaced. Hours later, soldiers detain both Ndaw and Ouane. In a statement read on public television on May 25, Goita says Ndaw and Ouane had been stripped of their duties for seeking to “sabotage” the transition, which would “proceed as normally, and the scheduled elections will be held in 2022”. Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

Regime Change

Peoples National Bank robbery

ST. LOUIS – Police are asking for help identifying and locating a truck related to a robbery at Peoples National Bank on Hampton Avenue. The robbery happened on Monday, December 28 at 12:15 p.m. Police said a woman entered the bank “and produced a note announcing a robbery.” The woman then took cash and left. Police said a security guard realized a robbery had occurred and followed the woman “behind the bank where [she] entered a white pickup truck occupied by a [man].” The suspects then drove the truck “towards the security guard to which the security guard fired shots at the suspect vehicle.” The vehicle was able to flee the scene. There were no injuries. The vehicle is described as a white pickup truck with a 4×4 on the rear quarter panel. Police said it is possibly a Chevrolet or a GMC. There is ballistic damage on the truck. Police said at the time of the robbery the woman was wearing a black ball cap, neon mask, camo jacket, camo pants and neon gloves. Anyone with information is asked to contact the 2nd District Detective at 314-444-0100 or contact CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS (8477). Submit

Bank Robbery

Two Michigan credit unions to merge

Two mid-Michigan credit unions founded to serve autoworkers have agreed to combine their organizations next month. Financial Plus Credit Union will retain its name as it joins Wanigas Credit Union. The combined organization will have over $1.1 billion of assets, 11 branches and about 80,000 members. “We’re fighting trillion-dollar banks; we can’t fight them dollar for dollar ... we can offer our customers a personalized experience,” said Brad Bergmooser, CEO of Financial Plus. His credit union has $754 million of assets and currently serves about 55,000 members. The credit union is figuring out what branch and digital services will attract members, but a larger resource base will help its digital transformation, Bergmooser said. Wanigas will have access to Financial Plus’s commercial lending unit, a service previously unavailable to the organization. Both organizations historically catered to United Auto Workers members, both were founded in 1952, and both operate in similar territory, Bergmooser said. The current CEO of Wanigas Credit Union, Bernie Williams, will join the senior management team of the combined credit union. Upon completion of the merger, which may take up to a year, Financial Plus will operate seven branches in Saginaw, a city less than an hour’s drive north of Flint. Financial Plus was founded as Chevy-Flint Federal Credit Union in 1952 serving the employees of the Chevrolet Motor Company in Flint. Wanigas started out as the Saginaw Gun Plant Employees Federal Credit Union. Today the credit union has nearly 25,000 members, four branches and more than $412 million of assets.

Organization Merge

‘Spectacular’ Treasure Trove of Bronze Age Relics Discovered in Swedish Forest

A trove of Bronze Age relics has been discovered in a Swedish forest, in a find that some experts are praising as potentially game-changing for archaeologists focused on the period. Cartographer Tomas Karlsson was working on a map of the woods in western Sweden when he stumbled upon what he seemed like a pile of metal garbage, carelessly tossed by a boulder. Even after examining the objects—mostly personal belongings and decorations—Karlsson didn’t yet suspect that he had discovered a trove of 2,500-year-old relics. “It all looked so new,” he told the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter . “I thought they were fake.” The treasure trove found outside the town of Alingsas includes 50 extremely well-preserved relics from the Nordic Bronze Age. Sweden’s County Administrative Board has described the discovery as one of “the most spectacular and largest cache finds” from the era, which began in 1700 B.C.E. and lasted until 500 B.C.E. During that period, Scandinavians imported jewels and fine metals from Central and Western Europe, fusing foreign influences with their own to create one of the finest metalworking cultures on the continent. Mysterious Figurines Discovered in Iran's 'Burnt City' “Presumably animals have dug them out of a crevice between the boulders, where you can assume that they had been lying before,” said the government agency in a statement. Most of the items were jewelry, like rings, necklaces, and ankle bracelet, that belonged to women of high social standing. Decorative items such as hair ornaments and eyelets used to pin pieces of clothing were used to signify to others the wearer’s wealth and influence. A team of archaeologists is now investigating the collection in greater detail. Pernilla Morner, an antiquities expert for Vastra Gotaland region, told the BBC that “not since the bronze shields from Froslunda were excavated from a field in Skaraborg in the mid-1980s has such an exciting find from the Bronze Age been made in Sweden.”

New archeological discoveries

1946 Railway Air Services Dakota crash

The 1946 Railway Air Services Dakota crash was the crash of a Douglas Dakota 3 of the British airline Railway Air Services 1 km north-east of Northolt Airport, London, United Kingdom on 19 December 1946. [1] The Dakota involved made its first flight in 1944 as Douglas C-47A 42-92633 military transport of the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) and had Douglas serial number 12455, it was transferred to the Royal Air Force (RAF) as KG420. KG420 was registered to Railway Air Services as a Dakota 3 in March 1946 with the British registration G-AGZA, powered by 2 Pratt & Whitney R-1830-92 Twin Wasp engines. [2] The Railway Air Services Dakota was ready to depart from Northolt Aerodrome, London, United Kingdom on a scheduled service to Glasgow Airport on behalf of Scottish Airways and had a total of four crew and one passenger on board. The aircraft had been de-iced since it was a cold, snowy evening which had delayed the departure. While the Dakota was waiting the temperature dropped and snow began falling which froze on the wings. The aircraft was finally ready for departure and taxied into position for take-off. The snow storm had closed the airport to incoming traffic and outbound traffic was subject to long delays. The aircraft had been waiting for more than an hour for clearance. When the flight received clearance, the pilot ran the engines up to 45.5 inches of manifold pressure and 2,500 RPM. [2][3] When the pilot accelerated down the runway he noticed that when the aircraft lifted off, it could not gain any height. The ice on the wings disturbed the air flow, which resulted in the aircraft not gaining any height. It was however too late to abort take-off so the crew was forced to try to get the aircraft to climb. [citation needed] The aircraft flew only a few metres high straight down Angus Drive from the end of the runway until the left wing contacted some rooftops and the aircraft slewed through 90 degrees and came to rest on the roofs of two houses at 44 & 46 Angus Drive in the London suburb of South Ruislip. [4] G-AGZA was severely damaged and radio officer Murdoch was fortunate that he wasn't sitting in his seat as some metalwork was pushed through the seat and it would probably have killed him had he been sitting there. [citation needed] Irene Zigmund and her 4-month old-son David were in the neighbouring house (44 Angus Drive) house at the time, but the aircraft came to rest on the roof without even waking the child who was asleep in his cot upstairs. [4] In fact no one was injured in the incident, the crew and passenger all descended into the house's loft, down the loft ladder onto the landing and then down stairs out the front door. [4] The aircraft was a total loss and the house was damaged, but not greatly. [citation needed] It was quickly determined that the cause of the crash was the snow which had frozen to the aircraft's wings while G-AGZA was waiting to take-off, resulting in the aircraft not gaining any height and making an emergency landing on the roof of 46 Angus Drive. [citation needed] The house was subsequently nicknamed "Dakota Rest". [4] The pilot was also assigned a cause factor for failing to abort take-off after noticing it had been snowing and his aircraft being covered in snow. [citation needed] The crash landing on the houses earned the captain the nickname "Rooftop Johnson". [5]

Air crash

Naval Group responds to Future Submarines overhaul

Earlier this morning, Prime Minister Scott Morrison, US President Joe Biden, and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson jointly announced a new multinational nuclear submarine plan to deliver next-generation undersea warfare capability to the Royal Australian Navy.  The technology sharing and support agreement forms part of a new “trilateral security partnership”, dubbed AUKUS. As part of the AUKUS alliance, nuclear-powered submarines would be built in Adelaide, leveraging skills and resources provided by stakeholders in the US and UK. Further details regarding the fleet’s capability, project logistics, and the delivery timeline are to be fleshed out over the next 18 months. The new plan scuppers France-based Naval Group’s multi-decade contract to deliver 12 diesel-powered Attack Class submarines to replace the ageing Collins Class fleet as part of its $90 billion SEA 1000 contract. A company spokesperson acknowledged the announcement, confirming the Commonwealth's decision not to proceed with the next phase of the program. “This is a major disappointment for Naval Group, which was offering Australia a regionally superior conventional submarine with exceptional performances,” the spokesperson told Defence Connect. “Naval Group was also offering Australia a sovereign submarine capability making unrivalled commitments in terms of technology transfer, jobs and local content. “For five years, Naval Group teams, both in France and in Australia, as well as our partners, have given their best and Naval Group has delivered on all its commitments.” Subscribe to the Defence Connect daily newsletter. Be the first to hear the latest developments in the defence industry. The prime’s Attack Class project had been marred with controversy, with stakeholders critical of perceived cost blow-outs, questions over AIC commitments, and the 2054 date for final operating capability. Naval Group sought to ease stakeholder concern by revamping its leadership team and bolstering engagement with local industry. In May, Naval Group appointed Lilian Brayle as the permanent replacement for Jean-Michel Billig as executive vice president of its Future Submarines program. This followed the appointment of former managing director of Rio Tinto, David Peever, as its new chair. Peever joined Chris Jenkins — chief executive of Thales Australia and national president of the Australian Industry Group — and Kim Gillis — former deputy secretary of the Capability, Acquisitions and Sustainment Group (CASG) — who were expected to leverage their experience in the sector to enhance the prime’s links with local industry. In a further effort to assure stakeholders of its commitment to fulfilling its contractual obligations, Naval Group Australia released a package valued at over $1 billion, aimed at encouraging local firms to join its supply chain. However, in announcing the government's new submarines strategy, Prime Minister Morrison stressed that the overhaul was not an indictment on Naval Group's management of the Attack Class program.  "This [new strategy] in no way reflects, in any way, shape, or form, on the Attack Class submarine, Naval Group, and the commitment of the French government and indeed President [Emmanuel] Macron personally," he said.  "They have been good partners [but] this is about our strategic interests, our strategic capability requirements, and a changed strategic environment." Naval Group representatives are now expected to engaged with Commonwealth government officials over the coming days for an “analysis of the consequences of this sovereign Australian decision”. [Related: Australia goes nuclear – Australia to obtain nuclear submarines as part of new global alliance] [Join the Defence Connect Messaging Service: https://www.defenceconnect.com.au/live-updates] News Editor – Defence and Security, Momentum Media Prior to joining the defence and aerospace team in 2020, Charbel was news editor of The Adviser and Mortgage Business, where he covered developments in the banking and financial services sector for three years. Charbel has a keen interest in geopolitics and international relations, graduating from the University of Notre Dame with a double major in politics and journalism. Charbel has also completed internships with The Australian Department of Communications and the Arts and public relations agency Fifty Acres. Defence Connect encourages respectful, challenging and constructive debate. We welcome your opinions if they are focused on the subject and ideas at hand. Comments which are defamatory, hostile, obscene or prejudicial will not be published.Please note: Comments can take up to 24 hours to appear.

Tear Up Agreement

Do the fantastic green and crimson light displays of the aurora borealis produce any discernible sound?

It's a question that has puzzled observers for centuries: do the fantastic green and crimson light displays of the aurora borealis produce any discernible sound? Conjured by the interaction of solar particles with gas molecules in Earth's atmosphere, the aurora generally occurs near Earth​​'s poles, where the magnetic field is strongest. Reports of the aurora making a noise, however, are rare – and were historically dismissed by scientists. But a Finnish study from 2016 claimed to have finally confirmed that the Northern Lights really do produce sound audible to the human ear. One of the researchers involved in the study captured a sound, possibly made by the captivating lights, that was estimated to have originated 70m (230ft) above ground level. Still, the mechanism behind the sound remains somewhat mysterious, as are the conditions that must be met for the sound to be heard. My recent research takes a look over historic reports of auroral sound to understand the methods of investigating this elusive phenomenon and the process of establishing whether reported sounds were objective, illusory or imaginary. Aurorae most commonly take place 100km (62 miles) above Earth Auroral noise was the subject of particularly lively debate in the first decades of the 20th Century, when accounts from settlements across northern latitudes reported that sound sometimes accompanied the mesmerising light displays in their skies. Witnesses told of a quiet, almost imperceptible crackling, whooshing or whizzing noise during particularly violent Northern Lights displays. In the early 1930s, for instance, personal testimonies started flooding into The Shetland News, the weekly newspaper of the subarctic Shetland Islands, likening the sound of the Northern Lights to "rustling silk" or "two planks meeting flat ways". These tales were corroborated by similar testimony from northern Canada and Norway. Yet the scientific community was less than convinced, especially considering very few western explorers claimed to have heard the elusive noises themselves. The credibility of auroral noise reports from this time was intimately tied to altitude measurements of the Northern Lights. It was considered that only those displays that descended low into the Earth’s atmosphere would be able to transmit sound which could be heard by the human ear. The problem here was that results recorded during the Second International Polar Year of 1932-33 found aurorae most commonly took place 100km (62 miles) above Earth, and very rarely below 80km (50 miles). This suggested it would be impossible for discernible sound from the lights to be transmitted to the Earth's surface. The Northern Lights might also create a metallic smell, as well as a sound (Credit: Lev Fedoseyev/ Getty Images) Given these findings, eminent physicists and meteorologists remained sceptical, dismissing accounts of auroral sound and very low aurorae as folkloric stories or auditory illusions. Sir Oliver Lodge, the British physicist involved in the development of radio technology, commented that auroral sound might be a psychological phenomenon due to the vividness of the aurora's appearance – just as meteors sometimes conjure a whooshing sound in the brain. Similarly, the meteorologist George Clark Simpson argued that the appearance of low aurorae was likely an optical illusion caused by the interference of low clouds. Nevertheless, 20th-Century accounts written by two astronomer's assistants claimed to have heard the aurora, adding some legitimacy to the large volume of personal reports. One wrote they had heard a "very curious faint whistling sound, distinctly undulatory, which seemed to follow exactly the vibrations of the aurora", while another experienced a sound like "burning grass or spray". As convincing as these two last testimonies may have been, they still didn't propose a mechanism by which auroral sound could operate. The answer to this enduring mystery which has subsequently garnered the most support was first tentatively suggested in 1923 by Clarence Chant, a well-known Canadian astronomer. He argued that the motion of the Northern Lights alters Earth's magnetic field, inducing changes in the electrification of the atmosphere, even at a significant distance. This electrification produces a crackling sound much closer to Earth's surface when it meets objects on the ground, much like the sound of static. This could take place on the observer's clothes or spectacles, or possibly in surrounding objects including fir trees or the cladding of buildings. Chant's theory correlates well with many accounts of auroral sound, and is also supported by occasional reports of the smell of ozone – which reportedly carries a metallic odour similar to an electrical spark – during Northern Lights displays. Yet Chant's paper went largely unnoticed in the 1920s, only receiving recognition in the 1970s when two auroral physicists revisited the historical evidence. Chant's theory is largely accepted by scientists today, although there's still debate as to how exactly the mechanism for producing the sound operates. What is clear is that the aurora does, on rare occasions, make sounds audible to the human ear. The eerie reports of crackling, whizzing and buzzing noises accompanying the lights describe an objective audible experience – not something illusory or imagined. Aurorae might only create a sound in 5% of displays (Credit: Lev Fedoseyev/ Getty Images) If you want to hear the Northern Lights for yourself, you may have to spend a considerable amount of time in the polar regions, considering the aural phenomenon only presents itself in 5% of violent auroral displays. It's also most commonly heard on the top of mountains, surrounded by only a few buildings – so it's not an especially accessible experience. In recent years, the sound of the aurora has nonetheless been explored for its aesthetic value, inspiring musical compositions and laying the foundation for novel ways of interacting with its electromagnetic signals. The Latvian composer Ēriks Ešenvalds has used journal extracts from the American explorer Charles Hall and the Norwegian statesman Fridjtof Nansen, both of whom claimed to have heard the Northern Lights, in his music. His composition, Northern Lights, interweaves these reports with the only known Latvian folk song recounting the auroral sound phenomenon, sung by a tenor solo. Or you can also listen to the radio signals of the Northern Lights at home. In 2020, a BBC Radio 3 programme remapped very low frequency radio recordings of the aurora onto the audible spectrum. Although not the same as perceiving audible noises produced by the Northern Lights in person on a snowy mountaintop, these sounds give an awesome sense of the aurora's transitory, fleeting and dynamic nature.

New wonders in nature

East Boston gas surge

The East Boston gas surge was a series of fires and at least one explosion that took place early on the morning of September 23, 1983. An underground control that regulated the flow of natural gas failed, causing a surge of the fuel into the neighborhood of East Boston, Massachusetts. [1] The sudden swell of gas rushed into businesses and residences, increasing the size of pilot lights to as much as a foot high. A number of fires started as a result and the second floor of one building in the Central Square area exploded. [2] Between 3:15 am and 8:00 am, 9-1-1 operators received approximately 170 calls reporting fires and the smell of gas. People rushed into the streets, and McClellan Highway and the Callahan Tunnel were closed to incoming traffic with the exception of emergency vehicles. [3] By mid-morning, the fires had been extinguished and the gas problem was fixed. The Boston Gas Company later said that a broken water main had flooded a gas regulator, causing the surge. There were no reports of injuries or deaths. [4]

Gas explosion

18F (demonstration)

The 18F was a demonstration that took place in Argentina on February 18, 2015, one month after the death of prosecutor Alberto Nisman. Nisman was investigating the 1994 AMIA bombing, a terrorist attack, and accused the president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner of covering up Iranian suspects. He was found dead at his home the day before he could address the Congress, and his death was still an unsolved case at the time of the demonstration. It was attended in Buenos Aires by 400,000 people, during a torrential storm. [1] Alberto Nisman was a prosecutor working on the AMIA bombing case. It was a terrorist attack against a Jewish community center that took place in 1994, and which is still unsolved. Nisman prepared a criminal complaint against president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, accusing her of covering up the involvement of Iranian suspects. He was found dead at his house on January 18, one day before he would report his progress to the Congress. As of February 18, the date of the demonstration, the investigation of his death had not settled if it was a suicide or a murder. [1] The demonstration was organized by a group of prosecutors, and attended by Nisman's relatives, including his former wife, judge Sandra Arroyo Salgado. [1][2] The protest in Buenos Aires took place under a torrential storm. It was attended by thousands of people anyway, and the street was filled with umbrellas and Argentine flags. It started at 19:00 at the Congressional Plaza, continued through Avenida de Mayo with a stop at Nisman's working place, and ended at Plaza de Mayo. It was organized as a silent demonstration, only as an homage to Alberto Nisman, and devoid of political flags or banners. The rule was followed, with occasional exceptions for waves of spontaneous clapping or people singing the Argentine national anthem. The city police estimated that the demonstration was attended by 400,000 people. [1] There were similar demonstrations at other populated places of Argentina, such as Mar del Plata, Córdoba and Rosario. [1] President Kirchner led the opening of the Atucha II Nuclear Power Plant on the same day, with a speech delivered though the emergency population warning. Contrary to expectations, she did not mention the demonstration at all. [1] She stayed at her private home in El Calafate during the demonstration. [3] Cabinet chief Jorge Capitanich considered that the demonstration was a coup d'état attempt by the judiciary. [1] He said that the government respected popular demonstrations, and then said that the people who called it were both supporters of baby theft during the National Reorganization Process and lawyers of drug dealers. [3]

Protest_Online Condemnation

Pictures: Inside Ariana Grande’s intimate at-home wedding

The pop star married Dalton Gomez at her Montecito home, wearing a column gown accented by a shoulder-length bubble veil On a Saturday in mid-May, Ariana Grande channeled Audrey Hepburn’s timeless elegance when she walked down the aisle wearing Vera Wang Haute to marry real estate agent Dalton Gomez at her home in Montecito, California. At the Met gala a few years ago, Ariana and Vera had made a very important pact: On fashion’s biggest night, Vera promised that when the time came, she would create Ariana’s wedding-day look…and the iconic designer delivered. The end result—a custom lily white, silk charmeuse, empire-waist column gown accented with a sculpted neckline, an exposed bra-strap closure, and a plunging back—was befitting of the pop star on her big day. The dress was accessorised with a shoulder-length hand-pleated bubble veil with a sweet satin bow at the very top. Altogether, the ensemble, styled to perfection by Mimi Cuttrell, was reminiscent of the look Jo Stockton so famously wore in Funny Face. Pearl and diamond earrings by Lorraine Schwartz were chosen to match the bride’s engagement ring—with one upside down (a nod to her aesthetic that started during the Sweetener era) and the other right side up. The meaning behind this is significant to Ariana, as it represents appreciating the lowest or the “upside down” moments in her life and how they have contributed to where and who she is now. Her polished half-up hair and soft curls were the work of Josh Liu, and her natural makeup, with sculpted brows and a pretty winged liner, were done by Ash K Holm. The ceremony was an intimate affair, with less than 20 close friends and family gathered to watch the couple—who started dating back in January of 2020 and got engaged the following December—say “I do” in a room aglow in candlelight. As the lyrics of “Thank U, Next” predicted (“One day I’ll walk down the aisle / Holding hands with my mama”), Ariana’s mother, Joan Grande, gave her away, although in real life she did so alongside Ariana's father, Ed Butera, which was a personal high point and one of the most special moments for the bride. Dalton, wearing a Tom Ford suit, waited beneath flowers suspended from the ceiling. Then the couple said their vows, committing to happily ever after, in love forever. This article originally appeared on Vogue.com Getting wedding-day ready—Ariana’s polished half-up hair and soft curls were the work of Josh Liu, and her natural makeup, with sculpted brows and a pretty winged liner, were done by Ash K Holm. The bride’s wedding dress was accessorized with a shoulder-length hand-pleated bubble veil with a sweet satin bow at the very top and custom Giuseppe Zanotti platform heels. Getting the curls just right. WATCH Holi Holy: Manish Arora's fashion film by Bharat Sikka Ariana wore a custom lily white, silk charmeuse, empire-waist column gown by Vera Wang. Dalton wore a Tom Ford suit. The bride’s Vera Wang wedding dress was accented with a sculpted neckline, an exposed bra-strap closure, and a plunging back. Ariana’s rescue dog, Toulouse, posing on the day of the wedding. Altogether, Ariana’s ensemble, styled to perfection by Mimi Cuttrell, was reminiscent of the look Jo Stockton so famously wore in Funny Face. A bridal portrait at home underneath flowers suspended from the ceiling. Pearl and diamond earrings by Lorraine Schwartz were chosen to match the bride’s engagement ring—with one upside down (a nod to her aesthetic that started during the Sweetener era) and the other right side up. The meaning behind this is significant to Ariana, as it represents appreciating the lowest or the “upside down” moments in her life and how they have contributed to where and who she is now. Ariana and Toulouse, just before the wedding. The ceremony was an intimate affair, with less than 20 close friends and family attending. The couple, who started dating back in January of 2020 and got engaged the following December, knew very early in the planning process that they wanted to get married at home.

Famous Person - Marriage

Hungarian swimmer Milak bags gold in Tokyo, breaks Phelps' Olympic record

U.S swimmer Ryan Murphy (C) finishes first in his group in backstroke on the fifth day of Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan on July 28, 2021. ( Elif Ozturk Ozgoncu - Anadolu Agency ) ANKARA Hungarian swimmer Kristof Milak on Wednesday won a gold and set a record in the Tokyo Games' 200-meter men's butterfly. Milak, 21, broke the Olympic record of swimming legend Michael Phelps set during the Beijing 2008 Games. The Hungarian athlete secured the top spot with time of 1:51:25. Japan's Tomoru Honda was 2.48 seconds behind to claim silver, whereas Italy's Federico Burdisso came third to bag the bronze. Phelps, 36, was a longtime record holder in the 200-meter butterfly category as he had 1.52.03 degree in the 2008 Summer Games. Retired in 2016, he is still the most decorated Olympian of all time, winning 28 medals including 23 golds.

Break historical records

Mine collapse kills six in Jharkhand, 12 feared trapped

A section of a coal mine collapsed in Jharkhand’s Kapasara area in Dhanbad due to illegal extraction on Wednesday morning, say media reports. While six people have died, 12 are feared trapped. A local requesting anonymity told the media that Dinesh Paswan and Kanto Rawani are the only two deceased who have been identified. The coal-mining operation, which is owned by Coal India subsidiary Eastern Coalfields Ltd (ECL), on Wednesday, like every other day, saw 100-150 workers come in. The area within a 10 feet radius of where the coal was being extracted collapsed. While several people were able to escape, few couldn’t. The Nirsa police and the ECL administration were immediately alerted. Soon after, a rescue operation was launched to extricate those trapped inside. The coal illegally extracted here is taken to Jamtara through Damodar river and Barakar river. It is used in industries and factories in the area.

Mine Collapses

17 Celebrities Who Got Dumped In The Worst Ways

Breakups suck no matter who you are. However, when your relationship dissolves in the public eye, things can get pretty...messy. CBC / Via giphy.com Here are 17 of the worst ways celebrities have dumped other celebrities: 1. Matt Damon and Minnie Driver had been dating for a year when, during an appearance on The Oprah Winfrey Show, he said he was single. Steve Granitz / WireImage / Via Getty She told the Los Angeles Times , "It seemed like a good forum for him to announce to the world that we were no longer together, which I found fantastically inappropriate. Of course, he was busy declaring his love for me on David Letterman a month previously.” 2. Pete Davidson broke up with Cazzie David via text, and she found out he was dating Ariana Grande the next day via Instagram. Jason Laveris / FilmMagic / Via Getty She told the Los Angeles Times that she initiated the breakup then decided she wanted him back, only to receive the devastating message two days later.  3. While Laura Dern was away from home shooting a movie, her fiancé Billy Bob Thornton ghosted her and married Angelina Jolie behind her back. Ron Galella / Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images She told Talk magazine, "It’s like a sudden death. For no one has there been any closure or clarity." 4. Zayn Malik allegedly ended his two-year engagement to Perrie Edwards with a text while she was touring in the US, leaving her homeless. Jamie McCarthy / Getty Images, Neil Mockford/GC Images / Via Getty In her band Little Mix's book Our World, she wrote , "After I split with my partner, out of the blue, I had nowhere to go, which was incredibly stressful... At the time we were promoting 'Black Magic,' doing a lot of traveling, and while I was in America things really hit me and I panicked. I realized I was homeless." However, Zayn refuted her side of the story, telling Fader , "I have more respect for Perrie than to end anything over text message. I love her a lot, and I always will, and I would never end our relationship over four years like that. She knows that, I know that, and the public should know that as well. I don’t want to explain why or what I did, I just want the public to know I didn’t do that.” 5. On the day she was supposed to marry Kiefer Sutherland, Julia Roberts ran away to Ireland with his best friend Jason Patric. Kypros / Getty Images However, Kiefer and Jason became friends again in 2009. On a podcast interview in 2021, Jason said , "What lasted after all that is me and Kiefer, 35-year buddies." 6. Joe Jonas broke up with Taylor Swift in a 27-second phone call , and she told The Ellen Show, "When I look at that person, I’m not even going to remember the boy who broke up with me over the phone in 27 seconds when I was 18.” Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic / Via Getty Years later, she made another appearance on The Ellen Show and said that the most rebellious thing she did as a teenager was "probably when I put Joe Jonas on blast on your show. That was too much." 7. Calvin Harris broke up with Rita Ora by tweeting , "To address speculation, myself and Rita ended our relationship some time ago. She is a beautiful, talented woman, and I wish her all the best." Larry Busacca / Getty Images She told Marie Clare , "I was at that point in my relationship where I felt he could do no wrong. I thought he had my back and that he'd never steer me wrong. But then [our collaboration] 'I Will Never Let You Down' came out, and everything started to go a bit weird." 8. Russell Brand ended his 14-month marriage by texting Katy Perry that he was divorcing her. Dave M. Benett / Getty Images She told Vogue , "I felt a lot of responsibility for it ending, but then I found out the real truth, which I can't necessarily disclose because I keep it locked in my safe for a rainy day. I let go and I was like, this isn't because of me; this is beyond me. So I have moved on from that." 9. The week after Dollicia Bryan publicly confirmed her relationship with Drake, they allegedly broke up because they argued about his colored contacts. Kevin Winter / Getty Images, Leon Bennett / WireImage / Via Getty Supposedly, she said she didn't like it when he wore hazel-colored contacts and left their date after an argument. He moved on with his ex Nebby soon after. 10. Crystal Harris left Hugh Hefner's mansion five days before their wedding, taking his favorite dog with her. Ethan Miller / WireImage / Via Getty She later went through with the wedding and stayed with him until his death. 11. While rumors swirled that Blac Chyna was dating Future, she got a tattoo of his name on her hand, but he tweeted that he was "single and focusing on what makes me happy." David Crotty/Patrick McMullan via Getty Images, Ilya S. Savenok / Getty Images She later covered up the tattoo with her daughter's name. 12. Iggy Azalea caught her fiancé Nick Young sneaking other women into their house, then she found out he was expecting a second child with his ex via media reports. Jason Merritt / Getty Images She tweeted , "I feel like I don't even know who the hell it is I've been loving all this time." 13. Jai Brooks allegedly broke up with Ariana Grande via text right before she went onstage of the opening night of her tour. Monica Schipper / Getty Images for AWXI, Steve Granitz / WireImage / Via Getty Their brothers got into a Twitter argument after the news about Ariana's relationship with Nathan Sykes broke. 14. Patrick Meagher broke up with Stassi Schroeder on their fourth anniversary...the day before they were supposed to leave for a vacation she'd already fully paid for. Tom Briglia / FilmMagic / Via Getty On her podcast, she said , "Granted, okay, we broke up for a really long time, but we met four years ago on that day. I didn't even get a daisy. Not even a weed." 15. Daniel Day-Lewis ended his six-year relationship with Isabelle Adjani via fax when he found out she was pregnant. Jason Merritt / Getty Images, Pascal Le Segretain / Getty Images More than 25 years later, he and their son Gabriel are close . 16. Jason Derulo broke up with Jordin Sparks over the phone because he "wasn't in town." Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images In a radio interview, he said , "Every relationship has their ups and downs and you know, when you start having more downs than ups, you gotta take a look at your relationship and be like, ‘Is this something that I’m supposed to be doing?'” 17. And finally, Kris Humphries learned that Kim Kardashian was filing for divorce through the media headlines . Jamie Mccarthy / Getty Images In a statement, he said , "I love my wife and am devastated to learn she filed for divorce...I'm willing to do whatever it takes to make it work."

Famous Person - Divorce

Experts on Lung Cancer: Latest on Symptoms, Screenings and Multidisciplinary Treatments

What is well established regarding lung cancer is this: About 80 percent of cases are linked to smoking — including both current and former smokers. The roughly 20 percent of cases among non- or never-smokers is a bit of a mystery, but growing evidence seems to point to a genetic disposition to lung cancer. While a majority of lung cancer cases are still caught in later stages, treatment has evolved to a point where more lives are being extended or saved. That’s in large part due to a multidisciplinary approach to each individual lung cancer case, explains Federico Albrecht, M.D., medical oncologist with Miami Cancer Institute. “We believe that a patient with lung cancer should be approached in a comprehensive perspective, involving different specialties including medical oncology, thoracic surgery, radiation, neuro-oncology and many others,” explains Dr. Albrecht. In observance of Lung Cancer Awareness Month, host Jonathan Fialkow, M.D., deputy medical director and chief of cardiology at Miami Cardiac & Vascular Institute, gathered a panel of experts for a Baptist HealthTalk podcast on the latest data regarding symptoms, treatments and screenings. Lung cancer (both small cell and non-small cell) is the second most common cancer in both men and women — not counting skin cancer. Joining Dr. Albrecht was Brenda Gonzalez, M.D., pulmonologist and vice-president of the medical staff at Doctors Hospital, and Lori Adelson, workplace counsel and board member of the American Lung Association. “Unfortunately, at early stages of lung cancer patients are frequently asymptomatic,” said Dr. Gonzalez. “Symptoms become more frequent as the cancer becomes more advanced. Sixty to 70 percent of lung cancer patients are not diagnosed until the cancer is advanced.” For Dr. Gonzalez and Ms. Adelson, the topic of lung cancer is also a personal one. Dr. Gonzalez said her uncle died of lung cancer at the age of 40. Ms. Adelson’s mother, a non-smoker, was diagnosed at 70. Here are some excerpts from the podcast, which can be heard in its entirety here: Can you elaborate on the multidisciplinary approach to treating lung cancer patients? Dr. Albrecht: “The team approach … is the best way to treat a patient and provide the individualized treatment. At the beginning, we analyze the extent of the tumor. And then we define the staging, and then we can ask if the tumor can have a minimally invasive surgery, or could it be resected surgically. We have a team of experts in robotic surgery here that has actually improved the recovery of these lung cancer patients. So, that is an important method and approach. “If the tumor cannot be removed surgically, then we discuss different options like adding radiation therapy. Here, at Miami Cancer Institute, we have available a full spectrum of techniques in radiation therapy.” What is the typical presentation of lung cancer cases that you see? Dr. Gonzalez: “Symptoms become more frequent as the cancer becomes more advanced. That was the case of my uncle who passed at the age of 40 with lung cancer. He was diagnosed at very advanced stage. About 60 to 70 percent of lung cancer patients are not diagnosed until cancer is advanced. The most common symptoms that patients can present are cough, coughing up blood, shortness of breath and chest pain. “So, any patient with risk factors, especially former smokers or smokers who present with cough and other symptoms, should trigger an evaluation for lung cancer. And, obviously, as the lung cancer progresses and spreads to other areas of the body, a patient can have other symptoms, especially if it has spread to their brain, liver, bone …” Tell us about raising awareness about lung cancer and importance of screenings? Ms. Adelson: “My mother at the time was diagnosed with stage-two lung cancer. She had been diagnosed through a mammogram. Her OB-GYN had taken her routine exam and saw a spot on her lungs. So, notwithstanding the fact that it wasn’t an actual lung scan, she was saved by the scan. And, fortunately, she caught it at an earlier stage. Unfortunately for us, she still only had a five- to seven-year prognosis. “So, most importantly, I raise awareness by sharing my story. So, I feel that no person facing lung cancer should go through it alone. And I really hope that this conversation motivates people to listen to their bodies, advocate for themselves and their loved ones, and talk to their physicians about getting lung cancer screening.”

Famous Person - Sick

Authorities in Portugal are investigating after up to 70 children needed hospital treatment earlier this month in the country.

Authorities in Portugal are investigating after up to 70 children needed hospital treatment earlier this month in the country. The Economic and Food Safety Authority (ASAE) through its Southern Regional Unit went to the city of Beja to follow up the alert of illness and discover the cause of suspected food poisoning. ASAE and local public health agencies said the sick children showed symptoms potentially because of contaminated food consumption. Local officials in Beja reported on May 18 that three children were hospitalized and another three were under observation but the rest had been discharged. An inspection revealed the origin was linked to a center that provided meals to five schools in Beja for lunch. This involved seizing 240 eggs that had expired and 40 kilograms of food products. Samples of food made at the center and part of the weekly menu will be analyzed by the food safety laboratory of ASAE. The Trade Union Association of Employees of the ASAE (ASF-ASAE) claimed it was not possible to carry out the analysis of samples in the food safety lab because of the lack of reagents, so it had to be done by someone else. Egg and supplement operations Meanwhile, ASAE has also seized more than a million eggs in the Centro region of Portugal. The Economic and Food Safety Authority action involved the inspection of egg sorting and packing centers. In one case they found falsified documents as the identification mark of another establishment was used. Other violations included the lack of daily records, eggs put on the market without an identification mark and lack of mandatory information on transport packages, such as the date of dispatch and quantity. Officials suspended the activity of one facility with 1,320,160 eggs being seized at a value of close to €65,000 ($79,000). Finally, the agency has uncovered an unauthorized operation producing and selling food supplements with the help of the National Republican Guard (GNR) of Santa Comba Dão. A regional unit of the authority carried out two home search warrants and found a unit for the production, storage and sale of supplements in Santa Comba Dão, in Viseu. An investigation started after a suspicion that food supplements with cannabis could be being produced. Cannabidiol extraction was being carried out to make food supplements and natural oils destined for the UK market. Officials suspended operations because of a lack of licensing and non-compliance with hygiene requirements. They seized 3,930,000 empty capsules and 428,000 filled capsules without labeling, chemicals, documents, machinery and packaging. Value of the seized material is up to €85,000 ($104,000).

Mass Poisoning

Chinese vendors fined for hiking the price of protective masks as coronavirus fears spread

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 Chinese authorities have cracked down on price-gouging vendors who have been charging up to six times the regular amount for protective masks as the country deals with the coronavirus outbreak. One store in the Chinese capital will be fined 3 million yuan ($639,850) for hiking the price of masks by almost six times the online rate amid the virus outbreak, the Beijing municipal market regulator said on Wednesday. The outbreak, which started in the central city of Wuhan late last year, has killed over 120 people, with over 4,000 infected in China. As the number of confirmed cases of deadly coronavirus in Australia continues to grow, experts are beginning to get a greater understanding of the disease and its impact. An administrative penalty notice has been issued to the Beijing Jimin Kangtai Pharmacy for sharply raising the price of N95 masks, the regulator said in a statement on its website. The store raised the price of a box of 3M-brand masks to 850 yuan ($181) while the online price was just 143 yuan ($30), state television said. Since Thursday, the regulator has investigated 31 price violation cases as it boosted supervision of prices of protective gear and punished illegal activities, such as hoarding or fabricating information about price hikes. In the commercial capital of Shanghai, the municipal market regulator has also ordered the closure of a drug store that sold sub-standard masks, according to the city government. Queues for masks are growing outside stores but those who are looking to buy them are concerned for their own health due to fears of coming into contact with someone suffering from coronavirus. "I left my place before 8:00 in the morning. I came by bus but I don't think it's good to queue here because it's a large crowd here. I am worried about cross-infection but I have no choice but queue here," local resident Zhang Dahua said. There had also been rumours of food shortages but supermarkets in Shanghai showed a good supply of fruits, eggs and vegetables. The ABC has confirmed that over 100 Australian children are currently trapped in Wuhan, the epicentre of the deadly coronavirus outbreak. Hubei province and the city of Wuhan continue to be in lockdown to avoid further spread of the virus, although both Japan and the United States have managed to evacuate their citizens from the area. It was not immediately known whether they were infected because coronavirus symptoms, including cough and fever and in severe cases pneumonia, are similar to many other illnesses. On Wednesday Australia's Federal Government said it would evacuate some Australians who were stuck in Hubei province, sending them to Christmas Island for quarantine before being cleared to return to the Australian mainland. That news came as Victoria and Queensland confirmed more cases of the potentially deadly disease, taking the total number of confirmed cases in Australia to seven.

Organization Fine

Nyrstar mine received three citations in weeks before deadly collapse

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (WVLT) - Nyrstar received several citations for “regular safety and health” violations at its Immel mine in Knox County. The three citations were issued after July 1, and one of those citations was written the day before a deadly collapse at the company’s Immel mine, according to Mine Safety and Health Administration documents. One person died and two were injured at the Immel Nyrstar Mine Tuesday, July 13, in Strawberry Plains, according to Rural Metro Fire officials. Nyrstar was cited twice for communication issues at its East Tennessee Immel mine. A the citation the day before the deadly collapse was for voice communications between the surface and refuge chambers, according to the MSHA. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a refuge chamber is a pocket miners can enter in case they are unable to escape the mine in an emergency. “Refuges are intended to provide mine workers access to clean air, food and water until they can be rescued,” according to the CDC. “If mine workers understand when and how to properly use refuges, their chances of surviving disasters could be greatly improved.” Nyrstar’s Immel mine was also cited July 8 for not having proper fire extinguishing equipment near machines that run on their own, and on July 7 for either not having a telephone or possibly a lack of instructions on how to use the phone.

Mine Collapses

Imagine Music Festival planned for Chattahoochee Hills canceled due to rain

Imagine Music Festival, metro Atlanta’s largest electronic dance music event, was canceled Wednesday due to predictions of rainy weather, just a day and a half before it was slated to begin. “We are devastated to share this news, however, mother nature leaves us no option with the remains of Hurricane Nicholas causing severe weather throughout the region,” wrote the festival organizers on its Facebook and Twitter feeds. Some 30,000 to 40,000 EDM fans were expected at the 8,000-acre Bouckaert Farm in the tiny Chattahoochee Hills community this weekend, planning to be entertained by Adventure Club, Excision, Griz, Illenium, Kaskade and dozens of other EDM acts. Three-day tickets, starting at $250, were sold out. The Midtown Music Festival is also planned for Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 18-19, on four stages at Piedmont Park. Scheduled acts include 21 Savage, Miley Cyrus and Megan Thee Stallion. This would have been the first time the Imagine festival was staged at the Bouckaert Farm, having begun life seven years ago at the Masquerade Music Park, and then at the Atlanta Motor Speedway facility. Plans for last year’s festival were scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but organizers Maddy and Glenn Goodhand were optimistic about this year’s event. “Overwhelmingly, even the experts are saying we’re likely to be at a point (with vaccines and case numbers) where we can put a bunch of people outside in early fall,” Glenn Goodhand told former AJC music writer Melissa Ruggieri earlier this spring. “It’s tough, but for the most part, I think everyone wants to start getting out there, and we want to make sure it’s safe to do so.” Now those fans are grousing on social media about the last-minute cancellation. “Spent thousands to get here and you say rain or shine,” said one on Facebook. “Where the heck is it ok to cancel less than 24 hrs of opening. I want my money back now so I can get home instead of spend the rest of my time here doing nothing.” Old hands remember the disaster of the huge TomorrowWorld festival, held in the same location in 2015. An event that attracted 150,000 the year before was marred by rain and bad planning in 2015, stranding thousands without food, water or transportation. The result of the TomorrowWorld debacle was the bankruptcy of the organizers and the end of Atlanta’s version of the festival. “As someone who was at TomorrowWorld . . . this is a smart decision,” wrote another commenter, on the Imagine Music Festival Facebook page. This year’s Imagine Music Festival, ironically named “An Aquatic Fairytale,” would likely have been similarly muddy, and more aquatic than the planners wanted. The refund policy listed on the Imagine Music Festival’s website specifies that there will be no refunds. “If the Event is canceled in whole, or in part, due to a Force Majeure Event (as defined below), You will not be entitled to a refund,” says the policy. “Force Majeure” is defined to include severe weather, along with terrorism, tsunami, flood, strike or other labor action. The terms and conditions can be seen on the organizer’s website. The Bonaroo Music and Arts Festival in Manchester, Tennessee was canceled last month, two days before it was set to begin, due to severe weather from Hurricane Ida.

Organization Closed

The Billionaire Space Race Launches A New Venture Capital Solar System

TOPSHOT - The SpaceX Falcon Heavy rests on Pad 39A at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, on ... [+] February 5, 2018, ahead of its demonstration mission. - SpaceX is poised for the first test launch February 6 of its Falcon Heavy, which aims to become the world's most powerful rocket in operation, capable of ferrying people to the Moon or Mars some day. The successful July launches of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin space flights for many seemed more like a made-for-TV spectacle than a showcase of scientific advancement. But for the venture capital community it meant something different. The milestones were a sign to many investors and entrepreneurs that the commercialization of space, which has been spearheaded by Elon Musk’s SpaceX, was not only possible but might be more expansive and come sooner than originally thought — and they wanted in. These private space companies, all of which formed about 20 years ago, have lofty goals of regular space tourist flights or building factories in orbit. But regardless of these ambitions — or if they even get there — what they have done thus far to prepare has fundamentally changed what role a private company can have with space. “I just like to remind people that people bust their chops but their idea is quite cool,” Bill Nye, the CEO of The Planetary Society tells Forbes. “[Elon] Musk pointed out years ago if you were to do [rocket launches] routinely enough, launching Falcon 9s, and get the thing reliable enough, then it becomes like a commercial airplane.” What established space companies like SpaceX and the L.A.-based Rocket Lab, founded in 2006, have improved the most are rocket launches — the industry’s kryptonite. By lowering the costs associated with rocket launches they can be much more frequent which has lit a spark in entrepreneurs. These companies have inspired others to try to tackle these issues like Long Beach-based Relativity Space, which looks to print 3D rockets, and Seattle-based STOKE Space Technologies which looks to build a fully reusable rocket to build off of Musk’s partially recyclable machines. PROMOTED By nearly eliminating the sector’s main barrier to entry, launch companies have built an infrastructure that other entrepreneurs can build on. The same way that advancements in computers and large-scale build outs of fiber optic networks sparked the dotcom boom in the ‘90s, venture capitalists predict the same thing is ready to happen in the space economy. Data from Space Capital shows investors poured nearly $15 billion into the sector in the first half of 2021 alone across 230 deals, $37 billion since 2013. The market has also started to see a handful of exits — mainly through SPACs — which are just adding fuel to the fire. “It’s a renaissance period in the space ecosystem,” Andy Lapsa, a cofounder of STOKE says. “Space development, it became this commercial sector. There has never been a case where the commercial sector has the promise that it does today.” Delian Asparouhov, a principal at Founders Fund, echoes that statement. He adds that now that the industry has this foundation other industries can start to take advantage. “At the end of the day no industry succeeds unless it makes money outside of the industry right?” Asparouhov tells Forbes. “Same thing for space. You can’t just have them sell to other space companies. We are now seeing the beginning of space 2.0. What are the alternative ways to monetize space?” Prior to becoming an investor, Asparouhov was a founder himself looking to get in early on the future economy. He says his startup San Francisco-based Varda wouldn’t have even been able to get started if it didn’t think it could stand on the “shoulders of giants” referring to Blue Origin and SpaceX. Varda, which recently closed on a $42 million Series A funding round in July, looks to tap into an area VCs are particularly interested in — space manufacturing. Varda plans to offer “microgravity as a service” for companies to improve manufacturing outcomes by manipulating one of the four forces of nature. This environment can better produce raw materials to be used in semiconductors, fiber optics and pharmaceuticals, Asparouhov says, something the International Space Station has been testing for the benefits of the astronauts on board. “The space launch industry and space systems industry has matured to a point where we can now build a layer of abstraction above those commoditized services we will be purchasing many of,” fellow Varda founder and CEO Will Bruey tells Forbes. “The bet of Varda is that manufacturing will be the next steady state revenue driver before space tourism really takes off.” Bruey jokes that while it doesn’t have customers lined up around the block yet, the company is on track to start doing test launches in 2023, a mere three years after its founding in November 2020. It isn’t just deeptech or science-focused VCs that are excited about space manufacturing either — although those players like Lux Capital did invest as well— more generalist VCs including Khosla Ventures and General Catalyst see the vision too. Another area VCs are watching closely is satellites, which has seen the second biggest share of VC dollars after rocket companies — $1.9 billion invested in Q2 2021 alone — according to Space Capital data. Advances in building smaller, cheaper satellites that can be inexpensively launched have opened the floodgates to a whole slew of possibilities surrounding the spacecraft whether that's new ways to utilize them by existing companies or services surrounding them. Asparouhov envisions an entire future economy around satellites alone from refueling stations to repairing robots to satellite taxi services. SpaceX is getting better and faster at making satellites too, and companies like Rocket Lab and San Francisco-based Loft Orbital are offering standardized platforms which could serve as a “satellites-as-a-service” business model. That expansion of satellites leads Asparouhov to predict further innovation down the road. “The best analogy is as the personal automobile became more popular justifying investing into freeways made a lot more sense,” Asparouhov says. This was a recurring theme among venture capitalists that this industry is so early it has the potential to be a nesting doll of possibilities with each new advancement jumping off the progress of the last, all tracing back to the foundation laid by billionaires. This billionaire space race has done more than just provide the platform for startups to build off of too — it also trained its talent. Many of the companies mentioned in this story have founders that were former engineers at Blue Origin or SpaceX. Some like Lapsa, a former engine director at Blue Origin, say their work at the large space companies helped them find a gap in the needed solution worth capitalizing on, or for Bruey, a former space craft operator at SpaceX, launching Varda allowed him to a way to marry his experience in startups with his passion for space — which he credits more to being “brainwashed” as a kid. Alumni of billionaire space companies are looking to take what they have learned and apply the next layer to create business opportunities in the same way alumni from places like PayPal and Facebook went on to create successful companies like software-as-a-service company Asana or defense company Palantir, both now public after raising hundreds of millions of venture capital dollars. “Many want to start their own company,” Josh Wolfe, the cofounder and managing partner at space startup backer Lux Capital, says. “There is going to be a flood of talent that will be observed. The talent that is going to be coming out of SpaceX who can recruit peers and recruit teams, that’s all very real.” Investors are careful to point out that there are still many areas of space that are more hype than reality — at least for now — like asteroid mining or Musk’s hope for those colonies on Mars. But sixty years after the original space race, the latest competition is the backbone of a future wave of innovation and the billionaires leading the way are bringing venture capitalists and entrepreneurs along for the run. “This whole ecosystem is evolving step by step, if you were to fall asleep today and wake up in ten to 12 years you’d be in awe of the technological progress and the wealth that has been made,” Wolfe says.

New achievements in aerospace

Marijuana Growing Equipment Could be the Cause of Valley Glen Home Explosion

Firefighters dug a 46-year-old man out of the debris. He was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Another man suffered minor injuries but declined treatment and a 65-year-old woman and three children were not injured, she said.  A woman from a neighboring home was evaluated for injuries but declined transport to a hospital. "There is no fire hazard and the gas leak is secured," Stewart said. "The operation transitioned to a cause investigation with LAFD and LAPD in unified command." Capt. Erik Scott with the Los Angeles Fire Department tweeted Monday morning that a "preliminary examination determined the explosion was not caused from a gas leak or a THC extraction lab." He added that investigators discovered evidence of a marijuana grow in the garage of the residence "and is part of the active investigation." #LAFD & #LAPD preliminary examination determined the explosion was not caused from a gas leak or a THC extraction lab. The inspection did find evidence of marijuana being grown in the garage area and that is part of the active investigation.

Gas explosion

Coronavirus News: India's vaccination figure crosses 84 crore doses

Closing Bell: Sensex sheds 433 points, extends losses to 3rd day in a row; Pidilite jumps 5% Bajaj Finserv 17871.35 (-2.48%) Bharti Airtel 728.60 (-0.93%) BPCL 425.30 (-1.38%) Britannia 3643.40 (-1.49%) Cipla 904.90 (-0.83%) Coronavirus India News Updates: India added 31,923 new coronavirus infections taking the total tally of COVID-19 cases to 3,35,63,421, while the active cases declined to 3,01,640, the lowest in 187 days, according to the Union Health Ministry data updated on Thursday. The death toll climbed to 4,46,050 with 282 fresh fatalities, according to the data updated at 8 am. The active cases comprise 0.90 percent of the total infections, the lowest since March 2020, while the national COVID-19 recovery rate was recorded at 97.77 percent, the highest since March 2020, the ministry said. The number of people who have recuperated from the disease surged to 3,28,15,731, while the case fatality rate was recorded at 1.33 percent. Thank you for joining our coverage of COVID-19. We will now wrap the blog. Good night, folks! Novavax, SII apply to WHO for emergency use listing of COVID vaccine Biotechnology firm Novavax Inc and its partner Serum Institute of India (SII) on Thursday said they have submitted an application to the World Health Organization for emergency use listing (EUL) of Novavax's COVID19 vaccine. The application to WHO is based on the companies' previous regulatory submission to the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI), Novavax Inc said in a statement. "Today's submission of our protein-based COVID19 vaccine to WHO for emergency use listing is a significant step on the path to accelerating access and more equitable distribution to countries in great need around the world," Novavax President and Chief Executive Officer Stanley C Erck said. Maharashtra logs 3,320 new coronavirus cases, 61 deaths; active count 39,191 Maharashtra on Thursday reported 3,320 COVID19 cases and 61 deaths, which took its infection tally to 65,34,557 and toll to 1,38,725, a health department official said. With 4,050 patients getting discharged from hospitals in the last 24 hours, the recovery count rose to 63,53,079. Talks on to make Zydus Cadila's COVID-19 DNA vaccine part of inoculation programme: Govt Preparations are on to make Zydus Cadila's COVID19 DNA vaccine available to people and although the price is a "clear issue", a decision will be taken soon to make it a part of the country's vaccination programme, the government said on Thursday. Responding to a question at a press conference, NITI Aayog Member (Health) Dr V K Paul said to bring Zydus Cadila's DNA vaccine in practical shape and implementation, preparations are going on and repeated discussions have been held. 14 new Covid cases in Haryana Haryana reported no new coronavirus-linked death even as the state added 14 fresh cases on Thursday, pushing the infection count to 7,70,784, according to an official bulletin. According to the health department's daily bulletin, the death toll remained unchanged at 9,809. Coronavirus: MP sees 13 new infections; active cases 93 now The COVID-19 tally in Madhya Pradesh rose to 7,92,435 on Thursday with the addition of 13 cases, a health department official said. The death toll remained unchanged at 10,517 as no fresh fatality was reported in the last 24 hours, he said. The overall recovery count stands at 7,81,825 and there are 93 active cases in the state at present. As 68,716 samples were examined during the day, the cumulative test figure went up to 1,81,14,489 in the state, the official added. Govt announces Covid jabs at home for differently-abled, people with restricted mobility The government Thursday announced that differently-abled people and those with restricted mobility and special needs will be given COVID19 vaccine doses at their homes. The relevant orders and advisory have already been issued to states and union territories, officials said, adding authorities concerned have been asked to initiate the "process of linelisting" these beneficiaries and their vaccination "at the earliest". Addressing a press conference here on the overall Covid situation, the officials said the country is still in the midst of the second wave of the pandemic even though the number of daily new cases are declining. India's vaccination figure crosses 84 crore doses The cumulative number of COVID19 vaccine doses administered in the country crossed 84 crore on Thursday, the Union Health Ministry said. As many as 65,26,432 doses were administered on Thursday till 7 pm, it said The daily vaccination tally is expected to increase with the compilation of the final reports for the day by late night. The vaccination exercise as a tool to protect the most vulnerable population groups in the country from COVID19 continues to be regularly reviewed and monitored at the highest level, the ministry underlined. 2 Pak health department workers suspended for issuing fake COVID-19 vaccine certificate in Nawaz Sharif's name Two officials of the health department in Pakistan's Punjab province were suspended on Thursday for issuing a fake coronavirus vaccine certificate in the name of ousted Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif at a government hospital here. Sharif, who is currently based in London, where he has been undergoing medical treatment since November 2019, was administered the first dose of the Chinese COVID19 vaccine Sinovac on Wednesday as per National Command Operation Centre (NCOC) records, a Punjab government official told PTI. Telangana records 247 new COVID-19 cases, one death Telangana on Thursday logged 247 new COVID19 cases, taking the caseload to 6,64,411, while the death toll rose to 3,909 with one more fatality. The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) accounted for the most number of cases with 71, followed by Karimnagar (21) and Khammam (17) districts, a state government bulletin said, providing details as of 5.30 PM today. 66% of India's adult population administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine: Govt The Centre on Thursday said 66 percent of the country's adult population has been administered at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, while 23 percent has received both doses. Addressing a press conference, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan said 63.7 percent vaccine doses have been administered in rural areas and 35.4 percent in urban areas. Maha: Aurangabad hospital ramps up bed capacity in anticipation of COVID-19 third wave The Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) in Maharashtra's Aurangabad has increased its bed capacity by five folds as part of its preparedness for a probable third wave of the COVID19 pandemic, an official said on Thursday. The largest health facility in Marathwada, the GMCH had earlier reserved 208 beds for COVID19 patients, and the number has now increased to 1,000, of which 60 beds are reserved for children, the official said. GMCH Dean Dr Kanan Yelikar chaired a meeting to review the preparedness of the hospital's oxygen system. Kenya reopens borders for Indian travellers Kenya Tourism Board (KTB) on Thursday said the African nation has reopened its borders for Indian travellers, which were closed for a brief period due to the second wave of Covid19. The temporary ban of passenger flights from India was revoked after a brief period of suspension since May this year as a result of the spike of the Covid19 pandemic in the country, KTB said in a statement. Sikkim reports 62 new COVID cases, one more fatality Sikkim on Thursday reported 62 new COVID19 cases, two more than the previous day, with the tally increasing to 31,136, a health department bulletin said. One more fatality due to the infection raised the death toll in the state to 382, it said. Of the fresh cases, 30 were reported from East Sikkim, 18 from West Sikkim,13 from South Sikkim and one from North Sikkim. The Himalayan state now has 644 active cases, while 29,798 people have recovered from the disease. At least 312 coronavirus positive patients have migrated out. 1,171 fresh cases and 11 Covid-19 deaths in Andhra Pradesh The cumulative Covid19 cases in Andhra Pradesh climbed to 20,43,244 as 1,171 were added afresh in 24 hours ending 9 am on Thursday. The total recoveries increased to 20,15,387 with 1,207 more getting cured of the infection, the latest bulletin said. J&K reports 172 more coronavirus cases; no new virus-related death Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday recorded 172 fresh cases of coronavirus, taking the infected number of persons to 3,28,590 while no fresh death due to the virus was reported from the Union Territory, officials said. Out of the 172 fresh cases, 21 were from Jammu division and 151 from Kashmir division of the UT, the officials said. Goa reports 80 new COVID-19 cases, 54 recoveries; no fresh death Goa's coronavirus caseload rose by 80 and reached 1,75,872 on Thursday, while no fresh death due to the infection was reported in the state, a health department official said. The death toll remained unchanged at 3,297, he said. UK rule of 10-day quarantine for those vaccinated in India discriminatory: Govt India believes the UK's decision of 10day quarantine for those vaccinated with Covishield here is "discriminatory" and New Delhi do reserve the right to reciprocate in a similar manner, the government said Thursday, but hoped a quick resolution would be found. Amid a growing outcry in the country over the UK's new travel rules, Union Health Secretary Rajesh Bhushan told a press conference here both the countries are engaged in a dialogue on the matter. HC told PM CARES Fund not of government; 3rd party info can't be disclosed under RTI The PM CARES Fund is not a government fund as donations to it do not go to the Consolidated Fund of India and no third party information can be parted with irrespective of its status under the Constitution and the Right to Information (RTI) Act, the Delhi High Court has been informed. An affidavit filed by an Under Secretary at the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) who is discharging his functions in the PM Cares Trust on honorary basis, has said the trust functions with transparency and its funds are audited by an auditor a chartered accountant drawn from the panel prepared by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India. Congress, Left conspired against Modi in Covid 2nd wave: Himanta Biswa Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday attacked the opposition Congress and Left parties for allegedly conspiring to put Prime Minister Narendra Modi in difficulties during the second wave of Covid19. Addressing the Assam BJP's executive committee meeting at Amingaon locality here, Sarma said other political parties supported the government in the twin calamities of flood and pandemic. "For the first time, all political parties supported the government in the flood and pandemic. But a conspiracy was hatched under the leadership of the Congress as they thought there would be no better opportunity to put Narendra Modi in an embarrassing situation," he alleged. Kin of person committing suicide in 30 days of being COVID positive to get ex-gratia: Centre to SC Family members of people who committed suicide within 30 days of being diagnosed with COVID19 will be entitled to Rs 50,000 exgratia assistance as per the guidelines, the Centre told the Supreme Court on Thursday. Deaths occurring within 30 days from the date of testing or from the date of being clinically determined as a COVID case will be treated as deaths due to COVID19', even if the death takes place outside the hospital/ inpatient facility, the government clarified. A bench of Justices M R Shah and A S Bopanna was informed by the Centre that a COVID19 case, admitted to the hospital/inpatient facility, and who continued to be admitted beyond 30 days but died, will also be treated as a COVID-19 death. Kerala logs 19,682 fresh COVID cases, 152 deaths Kerala on Thursday reported 19,682 fresh COVID19 cases and 152 deaths, which took the caseload to 45,79,310 and fatalities to 24,191. The number of people who recovered from the infection since Wednesday was 20,510 which brought the total recoveries to 43,94,476 and the number of active cases to 1,60,046, an official press release said. Vaccines to be required for Albania lawmakers The Albanian Parliament decided Thursday to make the coronavirus vaccination mandatory for all lawmakers. Taulant Balla of the governing Socialist Party said the leaders of every parliamentary group had agreed to make vaccines mandatory and also for most legislative committee hearings to be held online. Covid: Delhi records 48 new cases, zero death; positivity rate 0.07% Delhi recorded 48 fresh COVID19 cases and zero death on Thursday as the positivity rate slightly rose to 0.07 per cent, according to data shared by the city health department. Three Covidrelated fatalities have been reported this month, one each on September 7, 16 and 17, according to official figures. Norway rules out mandating vaccines ahead of Beijing Games Norway, the most successful country in the history of the Winter Olympics, will not follow in the footsteps of the United States and insist that those travelling to the Beijing Games are vaccinated against COVID19, a representative told Reuters. India, UK hold talks on vaccine certification process: British envoy British High Commissioner Alex Ellis on Thursday said India and the UK held "excellent" technical discussion on the issue of vaccine certification. Referring to new British travel rules, Ellis had on Wednesday said there was no problem with Covishield vaccine and that the main issue is COVID19 vaccine certification done through the CoWIN app. No evidence of any new variant of SARS-CoV2 in country: INSACOG There is no evidence of a new variant of SARSCoV2 and presently there is no additional or public health concern regarding the Delta sublineages, the INSACOG, a genome sequencing consortium, has said. In its latest bulletin dated September 20, the INSACOG said Delta continues to be the main variant of concern in India. Vaccine at home for differently-abled, people with restricted mobility: Govt The government Thursday announced that differently abled people and those with restricted mobility will be given Covid vaccine at home. Addressing a press conference here, Health Ministry officials also said the country is still in the midst of the second wave of COVID19 even though the number of daily new cases are declining. However, they added, 62.73% of total infections reported last week were from Kerala alone, which is the only state with over 1 lakh active Covid cases. Mandaviya releases guidelines on treatment of sequelae of COVID-19 Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday released guidelines on the treatment of sequelae of COVID-19 which will help in building the capacity of doctors, nurses, paramedics and community health workers across India to deal with long-term effects of the coronavirus infection. The minister said that the modules have been prepared to provide guidance to doctors and healthcare workers to deal with the issue of long-term effects of COVID-19, the Health Ministry said in a statement. (PTI)

Disease Outbreaks

Denmark striker Kasper Dolberg diagnosed with diabetes

Denmark striker Kasper Dolberg has been diagnosed with diabetes and said Monday he will miss his national team’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers, to get used to the small treatment. Dolberg, who also plays for French club Nice, said in a message posted on Instagram that he doesn’t think the disease will affect his playing career. Denmark has already qualified for next year’s tournament with eight wins in Group F. Dolberg said he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. “I am honestly relieved to finally have discovered the reason for feeling a bit off the last couple of weeks,” Dolberg wrote. “Also I’m extremely happy that the doctors could tell me that with the right treatment, it will have no effect on my football career!” The 24-year-old Dolberg joined Nice from Ajax in 2019. He has scored three goals in nine matches this season but had been struggling in recent weeks.

Famous Person - Sick

Celestial News: Super moon eclipse coming May 26

The Pacific Ocean region and Pacific rim countries will be treated to a total eclipse of the Super Flower Moon on May 26. For Coloradans, it will be a race against the sunrise to see all of this colorful eclipse. The excitement begins before dawn May 26 when the full Flower Moon first touches the edge of Earth’s dark umbral shadow at 3:45 a.m. This dark bite will grow in size until 5:11 a.m., when the moon is totally engulfed in the Earth’s shadow. The first light of dawn will be filling the sky as the very brief total phase of the eclipse comes and goes. The total phase of a lunar eclipse can last from a few seconds up to a maximum of 107 minutes, depending on the geometry of the eclipse. For this eclipse, totality will last for only 14.5 minutes and end at about 5:26 a.m. The sun pops up just 17 minutes later, at 5:42 a.m., and the moon sets at 5:50 a.m. The last part of totality will be very challenging to observe in the bright twilight of dawn, but the earlier stages of the eclipse will happen in a much darker sky. Binoculars will be useful to see the details lost in the pending dawn. Sunlight filtering through the Earth’s atmosphere can render the totally eclipsed moon a coppery yellow or deep red color. A blood red moon hanging in the blue sky of dawn is a striking thing to see. This eclipse happens while the moon is near its closest point to Earth for the month, called perigee, and will look about 7% larger than your average full moon. In fact, this May’s full Flower Moon is the largest full moon in 2021, a so-called Super Moon. The eclipsed moon is always exactly opposite the sun in the sky, an alignment called syzygy, so this predawn lunar eclipse will not be visible high up in the sky. In fact, to see this eclipse at all, you will need an unobstructed view of the sky all the way down to the southwestern horizon, opposite the rising sun. The top of a treeless mountain or hill would make a great observing spot. Both solar and lunar eclipses repeat themselves in a period called the saros cycle, lasting 18 years, 11 days and 8 hours. The previous eclipse in this saros was May 15, 2003, but that one happened at sunset instead of sunrise. The next one will be June 6, 2039, and will not be visible in our hemisphere. Fortunately, we won’t have to wait that long for our next chance to see a total lunar eclipse. This coming Nov. 8, we will be able to see a 97% eclipse of the moon — close, but not quite total. Then, next May 15, Coloradans will get a beautiful total eclipse of the moon during the prime-time early evening hours.

New wonders in nature

The Police Killings Were Years Ago. New Prosecutors Are Reopening Cases.

The attorney general of Maine declined 14 years ago to prosecute the police officer who had killed Gregori Jackson, 18, a drunk passenger who fled on foot from a routine traffic stop in the town of Waldoboro. (“ Legally justified ,” the attorney general ruled.) It was nearly 11 years ago that the district attorney in Westchester County, N.Y., found no crime when an officer, claiming he was about to be run over, had fired at Danroy Henry Jr., 20. He had bumped his Nissan Altima into the officer outside a bar while police responded to an unrelated scuffle inside. (“ No reasonable cause ” to indict, the grand jury concluded.) And it was two years ago that the Los Angeles County prosecutor cleared the officers who had shot Christopher De’Andre Mitchell, 23. He had been in the driver’s seat of a stolen vehicle with an air rifle between his knees. (“ Acted lawfully in self-defense ,” the district attorney wrote.) Now, in the aftermath of protests over racial justice and police abuse, new prosecutors are taking a previously rare step: They are reopening investigations into all three deadly car stops, asking whether the use of force was justified or if the officers should face criminal charges. Mr. Henry and Mr. Mitchell were Black, and Mr. Jackson was white. Image Protesters address the Torrance City Council after Christopher De’Andre Mitchell was killed by police. A prosecutor is reopening an investigation into whether the shooting was justified.Credit...Axel Koester District attorneys in Democratic precincts around the country have been re-examining other old use-of-force cases, too — including 340 killings in Los Angeles County alone. They are promising a sharp break from the traditionally close relationship between the police and prosecutors that critics say has long shielded officers from accountability. “For 200 years in this country we have been electing one kind of prosecutor,” said José Garza, who last fall was elected district attorney of Travis County, Texas, which includes Austin. But since the killing of George Floyd, he added, “People across the country have spoken up loudly and clearly to say they want a new way of being policed.” So far, Mr. Garza’s team has persuaded grand juries to hand down 11 indictments against officers — including at least six for use-of-force incidents in 2019 and 2020 for which his predecessor had not sought charges. The reviews are arousing furious resistance from police unions and conservative district attorneys, who call them political stunts that demoralize officers and are unlikely to sway trial court juries. Unions in Austin, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Philadelphia have backed campaigns to oust the top prosecutors. At the same time, rising crime rates across the country are provoking a backlash against calls from last year’s protests to rein in the police. “To go back and open up all the cases, because you have an absolute grudge against police officers and you’re trying to carry a badge of honor — ‘Look at me, look at me, I’m going to prosecute police officers, I’m going to hold them accountable’ — is turning the table completely upside down,” said Todd Spitzer, the district attorney of Orange County, Calif. A Republican, he is an outspoken supporter of the union-backed campaign to recall his Democratic counterpart in nearby Los Angeles. “These counties where the ‘woke D.A.s’ are elected,” Mr. Spitzer said, “they are utterly destroying police morale. They are making it impossible to recruit police.” The number of progressive district attorneys vowing new accountability for police has grown from a first wave of 14 in 2016 to more than 70, representing one-fifth of the U.S. population, according to Fair and Just Prosecution, a group that supports criminal justice reforms. Nearly half of the prosecutors are women, and nearly half are people of color. Bringing charges against police officers for old use-of-force cases — especially those formally closed by their predecessors — is among the boldest of a range of changes many are seeking. Other policies have included compiling lists of officers deemed discredited as witnesses, requiring a search for corroboration to bring charges of resisting arrest, or reassessing past convictions for potential exonerations or sentence reductions. Legal scholars say the efforts amount to a decisive test of the criminal justice system. “The stakes are enormous,” said Erwin Chemerinsky, the dean of the University of California, Berkeley School of Law and a member of a panel advising the Los Angeles district attorney on the review of past use-of-force cases. Noting the election of the progressive prosecutors coincides with increased awareness about officer misconduct, he asked, “Will these combine to reform policing, or will we just revert to where we were?” The progressive prosecutors reflect “the anti-cop political moment,” said Hannah E. Meyers, director of policing research at the conservative Manhattan Institute. “But if we are serious about reform,” she asked, “is this endeavor really the way to have a system for putting the best cops in those positions and for justice when police act badly?” Legal codes and court precedents generally allow police to use lethal force if they reasonably believe it necessary to defend themselves or others from imminent harm. Persuading a jury that an officer’s professed fear was unreasonable can be a high hurdle, prosecutors often say, especially in the context of vehicle stops, where police training and culture typically overstate the dangers to officers. A recent New York Times investigation found that since the fall of 2016, officers have killed more than 400 drivers or passengers who were not wielding a gun or a knife, or under pursuit for a violent crime. In about 250 of the cases, officers later claimed a driver used a vehicle as a weapon , and most officers killed with impunity: Only five have been convicted of crimes. (About two dozen cases are pending.) One of those rare convictions came this fall in the 2018 police shooting in Danville, Calif., of a driver, Laudemer Arboleda, who was 33 and mentally ill. He had ignored an attempted traffic stop and continued to drive slowly when he was fatally shot by Officer Andrew Hall. Mr. Hall claimed Mr. Arboleda was attempting to use his vehicle as a weapon. The officer returned to duty, and in March, he fatally shot a homeless man who was holding a folding knife during an encounter in the street. District Attorney Diana Becton of Contra Costa County charged Mr. Hall in April for the death of Mr. Arboleda. He was convicted in October of felony assault with a semiautomatic firearm. (The jury deadlocked on a manslaughter charge; Ms. Becton’s office is still investigating the killing of the homeless man.) “Vehicle cases can be difficult,” she said. “But we also know that we now have a conviction on one of the charges.” We Spoke to Prosecutors Across the Country David D. Kirkpatrick and Steve EderReporting for the Investigations Desk We Spoke to Prosecutors Across the Country David D. Kirkpatrick and Steve EderReporting for the Investigations Desk Jonathan Wiggs/The Boston Globe, via Associated Press While we were reporting on traffic stops, a forensics expert told us district attorneys were hiring him to review old cases against police officers. But was this really happening? Here’s what we learned → We Spoke to Prosecutors Across the Country David D. Kirkpatrick and Steve EderReporting for the Investigations Desk Morgan Lieberman for The New York Times Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón is reviewing as many as 340 killings since 2012. He told us that communities of color have always known that unaccountable policing was a problem. But since George Floyd, everyone else understands too. “It is in their living room,” he said. We Spoke to Prosecutors Across the Country David D. Kirkpatrick and Steve EderReporting for the Investigations Desk District Attorney Miriam Rocah of Westchester County, N.Y., explained why she is re-examining two police shootings of Black men that both took place 10 years ago. “They were looked at in a certain time, through a certain lens,” she said. “But I think we have a much greater understanding now of the dynamic between people of color and police, and about the need for de-escalation.” We Spoke to Prosecutors Across the Country David D. Kirkpatrick and Steve EderReporting for the Investigations Desk Tamir Kalifa We learned that José Garza, of Austin, Texas, has brought 11 indictments against police during his first year in office. He told us: “For 200 years in this country, we have been electing one kind of prosecutor.” We Spoke to Prosecutors Across the Country David D. Kirkpatrick and Steve EderReporting for the Investigations Desk Jim Wilson/The New York Times Police unions are also backing campaigns to oust several of the district attorneys. The unions are “deeply invested in a status quo that allows officers to violate the law with impunity,” Chesa Boudin, the district attorney in San Francisco, told us. We Spoke to Prosecutors Across the Country David D. Kirkpatrick and Steve EderReporting for the Investigations Desk Advocates for the police accuse the prosecutors of playing politics and undermining public safety. Mike Edes, executive director of the Maine police union and a former officer, was involved in a shooting on duty in 2004, and he told us that he worried that a prosecutor who had re-examined an old case might come after him too. “If she doesn’t like the outcome, is she going to go back 17 years and reinvestigate it?” he asked. “Where’s this going to stop with her?”

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Meopham air disaster crash

The Meopham Air Disaster occurred on 21 July 1930 when a Junkers F.13ge flying from Le Touquet to Croydon with two crew and four passengers crashed near Meopham, Kent with the loss of all on board. The report of the inquiry into the accident was made public, the first time in the United Kingdom that an accident report was published. The aircraft involved was Junkers F.13ge G-AAZK, c/n 2052. The aircraft had been registered on 26 May 1930. [1] The Junkers F.13ge registered G-AAZK which was owned by the pilot Lieutenant-Colonel George Henderson had been lent to the Walcot Air Line to operate a charter flight between Le Touquet in France and Croydon Airport south of London. [2] As the aircraft was above Kent it appeared to have disintegrated and crashed near the village green at Meopham, five miles (8 km) south of Gravesend. Witnesses reported a rumbling noise just before the crash[2] and that the aircraft emerged from a cloud and then broke apart in mid-air. [3] The crash happened at 2:35 pm. [4] All the occupants except the pilot fell from the aircraft and ended up in an orchard, all of them dead. [2] The fuselage and one wing of the aircraft crashed close to a bungalow, while the other wing was found one mile (1.6 km) away. [2] The tail was found 300 yards (270 m) from the crash site in a field. [2] The engine fell into the drive of an unoccupied house, just missing a gardener working nearby. [2] One of the villagers rescued the co-pilot, Charles Shearing, from the wreckage and carried him into the bungalow. A retired surgeon who lived nearby was soon on the scene, but Shearing died soon afterwards. [2] The passengers were the Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, Viscountess Ednam (formerly Lady Rosemary Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, sister of the 5th Duke of Sutherland), Sir Edward Ward Bt, and Mrs Sigrid Loeffler,[5] none of whom survived. An inquest into the deaths was opened at Meopham Green on 23 July 1930. [5] After hearing identification evidence for the victims and testimony from some of the witnesses the inquest was adjourned until August pending results from an Air Ministry Inquiry. [5] The inquest resumed on 13 August and heard more reports from witnesses and technical evidence from the investigation. [6] The head of the Air Ministry investigation said the removal of parts of the wreckage for souvenirs had not helped his work. [6] The investigation had shown no evidence of faulty material or bad workmanship but it was clear that the port wing had folded or collapsed upwards where it joined the fuselage. [6] The engine and tail plane had broken away and the passengers were thrown out of the aircraft. [6] The coroner directed that as a government inquiry would be held then some of the technical details of the accident need not be heard. [6] The coroner could see no reason to further delay the verdict until after the inquiry by the Aeronautical Research Committee. [6] The jury returned a verdict "that the victims met their death falling from an aeroplane, the cause of the accident being unknown". [7] The Junkers was an all-metal aircraft and had only flown about 100 hours since new. The flight was the third that day. Henderson had earlier flown his wife from Le Touquet to Croydon and had returned for four more passengers before going back again for the remaining four. Early indication showed that the port wing had become detached from the fuselage. The wreckage was removed to Croydon for investigation and four representatives from Junkers arrived from Germany. [5] The investigation was assisted by personnel from the Deutsche Versuchsanstalt für Luftfahrt, the National Physical Laboratory and the Royal Aircraft Establishment. [4] Following the initial accident investigation an inquiry by the Accidents Investigation sub-committee of the Aeronautical Research Committee was opened on 3 September 1930. [8] The inquiry was held at Croydon Airport in private and the members inspected the wreckage. [8] The periodical Flight, in its issue dated 5 September 1930, called for the results of the investigation to be made public. It further called for all investigations into aircraft accidents to be made public. It also reported that representatives of some of the victims desired to ask questions at the inquiry. This was refused by Major Cooper, the Air Ministry inspector in charge of the investigation. Major Cooper stated that solicitors for the victims would each receive a copy of the report when it was published. [9] The final report was issued in January 1931 and the committee concluded the cause to be the "failure of the tailplane under severe buffeting from air eddies produced by the centre section of certain low-wing monoplanes when the aircraft approaches the stalling attitude". [10] They reported that the aircraft, flying in clouds, may have been thrown into an unusual attitude. This resulted in buffeting of the tailplane, causing the port tailplane to fail, and the aircraft entered a dive. [10] The flutter effect on the starboard tailplane caused it to fail next. The aircraft was moving at high speed and reached a stalling attitude, causing the port wing to break away. [10] The rapid angular acceleration caused the engine supports to break and the engine to fall away. [10] Nine other causes were investigated but dismissed by the committee. [10]

Air crash

Covid Updates: C.D.C. Director Defends Move to Give Boosters to Frontline Workers

Students lining up in the cafeteria for lunch at Rising Hill Elementary in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday.Credit...Katie Currid for The New York Times School mask mandates have generated controversy in many parts of the country. Now, two studies, published on Friday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, provide additional evidence that masks protect children from the coronavirus, even when community rates are high and the contagious Delta variant is circulating. One study, conducted in Arizona, where children returned to school in July, found that schools that did not require staff and students to wear masks were 3.5 times as likely to have a virus outbreak as schools that required universal masking . A second study looked at infections among all children in 520 different counties across the United States, and found that once the public school year started, pediatric cases increased at a far higher rate in counties where schools did not require masks. The first study analyzed data on about 1,000 public schools in Maricopa and Pima counties, which include the metropolitan areas of Phoenix and Tucson, and account for most of the state’s population. Only 21 percent of the schools implemented a universal mask mandate upon opening, and nearly half had no mask requirement at all. Another roughly 30 percent enacted a mask requirement about 15 days after school started. Between July 15 and Aug. 31, there were 191 school-associated virus outbreaks that occurred about a week after school started. The majority of them — 113 outbreaks, or nearly 60 percent of the total — occurred in schools with no mask requirement. Only 16 outbreaks, or 8 percent of the total, took place in schools that implemented mask requirements regardless of vaccination status from the start. There were 62 outbreaks, or about one-third of the total amount, in schools that implemented a mask requirement after the school year had already started. The study defined an outbreak as two or more positive confirmed cases of infection among staff or students within a 14-day period. “The school year starts very early in Arizona, in mid-July, so we had the advantage of being able to get an early look at data for the new school year a bit sooner than was possible for the rest of the country, which was important, because of the transmission of the Delta variant,” said J. Mac McCullough, associate professor at Arizona State University and a co-author of the study. The C.D.C. recommends a layered approach to preventing coronavirus outbreaks in schools — masking, distancing, staying home when sick and vaccination for those eligible. “This study really shines a lens on the masking part of that,” Dr. McCullough said. The second study looked at the association between school mask policies in a given county and communitywide infections among children, finding that counties with no school mask requirement experienced a larger uptick in pediatric case rates after the start of school than counties with school mask requirements. Between the week before school started and the second week of school, the number of pediatric infections increased by 35 cases per 100,000 in counties without mask requirements, while the number increased by 16 cases per 100,000 population in counties with school mask requirements. Yemen, devastated by war, now faces a Covid surge, a nonprofit says. Image Medical workers attend to a Covid-19 patient last year in an intensive care unit at a hospital in Sana, Yemen.Credit...Hani Mohammed/Associated Press War-torn Yemen, where the overwhelming majority of the population is unvaccinated, is seeing coronavirus cases multiply and deaths soar, according to a report this week by the charity Oxfam. Oxfam, which describes itself as a global anti-poverty and humanitarian group, found that Covid deaths had increased by more than fivefold in the past month and that recorded Covid cases had tripled. The charity said actual figures were likely to be much higher, with many unregistered cases and deaths. The official Covid death toll is about 1,658, and recorded cases have reached 8,789. But the situation in the country of about 30 million is hard to gauge. “Countless” others have died in their homes or have not been diagnosed because of scarce tests and hospital beds, Oxfam said. Yemen is still embroiled in a war that began in 2014 when Iran-backed rebels know as the Houthis seized the country’s northwest, including the capital, Sana, sending the government into exile. The government has effectively collapsed, and tens of thousands have died. The country already faced many health challenges before the coronavirus emerged. Hunger is widespread , medicines are hard to find and there have been outbreaks of cholera and other diseases. The pandemic has only exacerbated the situation, and rights groups say that it is adding to the burden of an already wrecked health care system. “Covid has made life even worse for people across the country,” Abdulwasea Mohammed, Oxfam’s policy and advocacy lead for Yemen, said by phone from Sana. Some relief could come with vaccines, but fewer than 1 percent of Yemenis have so far received a single vaccine dose, and only 0.05 percent are fully vaccinated, according to Oxfam. The country is relying on vaccines from the global Covax program. But Covax is struggling to meet its global supply target, and only half a million out of a promised 4.2 million doses have reached Yemen so far, Oxfam said. Few isolation centers exist for Covid patients. The ones that are operating are found only in major cities like the capital Sana, and they are overflowing with people, Mr. Mohammed said. The poorly equipped hospitals are also seeing more people than they can accommodate. And many Yemenis cannot afford transportation to health care facilities. With half the population having lost their source of income, staying at home means possibly dying of hunger for many Yemenis who have become day earners, Mr. Mohammed said. But appearing to be sick means being shunned, so if they have mild symptoms, people are reluctant to seek medical care or testing for the virus at the very few testing centers available. In shelters that host over 4 million internally displaced people, a family of 10 is likely to share one small tent, making precautionary measures impossible. “The country is not able to cope with another health crisis,” Mr. Mohammed said. Most Yemenis survive on humanitarian aid, which Oxfam says has been in short supply. Only half of a $3.9 billion essential aid package requested by the United Nations from donor countries has been received. The health care system is dangerously underfunded, working with only 11 percent of what it needs, the organization says. Some had hoped that the pandemic would force Yemen’s warring parties into a truce, but the war continues. “If anything, it is amazing how little the pandemic has affected the fighting,” said Peter Salisbury, a senior analyst on Yemen for the International Crisis Group, in an interview. The terror and uncertainty of the war, which has forced people to deal with loss on a daily basis for years, remains a larger concern for many Yemenis than the pandemic itself. “This speaks to the trauma of the conflict,” Mr. Salisbury said.

Disease Outbreaks

Turkish Airlines Flight 634 crash

DIYARBAKIR, Turkey (CNN) -- A Turkish Airlines flight carrying 80 people crashed Wednesday on approach to the airport in this southeastern Turkey city during extremely foggy weather, authorities said. Transportation Minister Binali Yildirim said 74 people aboard Turkish Airlines Flight 634 were killed in the crash; a 75th victim, a 2-year-old girl, was declared brain dead after emergency surgery. Five survived, including one of the crew members, Yildirim said. Those five, Aliye Il, Celal Toprak, Murat Karamutlu, Abdullah Altindag and Gencel Gunes, were hospitalized in serious condition with injuries ranging from burns to broken bones. Speaking to a reporter by phone from her hospital bed, the only woman survivor, Aliye Il, said she was ejected from the plane and found herself sitting in the grass right after the crash. Two other men on the same flight were nearby, she said. She said she heard two explosions coming from the crashed plane before two soldiers rescued her. The bodies of those killed in the crash have been removed and taken to a nearby university sports center, which was transformed into a makeshift morgue, authorities said. The Avro RJ-100 was carrying 75 passengers and five crew members on a flight directly from Istanbul to Diyarbakir. It crashed at 8:28 p.m., just two minutes before its scheduled landing. Eight of those aboard were said to be from outside of Turkey. "We may have identified at least one American," a State Department official said in Washington. Yildirim said the cause of the crash was under investigation, and authorities are hoping the plane's black box may illuminate what went wrong. "We are not sure why it happened," Yildirim told reporters. "It was very foggy. It might be the reason, but we will tell you the details later." The plane crashed in a military area near the Diyarbakir airport, and soldiers helped evacuate the injured. Witnesses described the crash as a "bad landing," with some reporting that the plane broke in two. The flight had left Istanbul at 6:35 p.m. for the nearly two-hour flight. Diyarbakir is near the Turkish border with Iraq, and has a large Kurdish population. Turkish Airlines has had a history of air problems. Its most recent crash was April 1999 when a Boeing 737, empty but for six crew members, went down in southern Turkey, killing everyone inside. Another crash in southeastern Turkey in 1994 killed 57 people when the plane hit a hill during its fourth attempt to land. The airline's worst accident occurred in March 1974, when all 346 people aboard a DC-10 were killed in one of aviation's deadliest crashes ever. In that accident, the Turkish Airlines plane experienced sudden decompression shortly after takeoff in Paris and then slammed into a park in Ermenonville, France.

Air crash

PauknAir Flight 4101 crash

PauknAir Flight 4101 was a British Aerospace 146 that crashed on a flight from Málaga, Spain, to the Spanish North African exclave of Melilla on 25 September 1998. All 38 passengers and crew on board the aircraft were killed in the accident. The aircraft, a British Aerospace 146 series 100 (BAe 146-100), made its first flight in 1983 and was the seventh BAe 146 built and was originally delivered to British Airways and it was transferred to Dan-Air London a year later. After the aircraft spent several years in storage, PauknAir took over the aircraft when the airline commenced operations in September 1995. [1] The aircraft took off from runway 14 at Malaga's Pablo Ruiz Picasso Airport at 8:23 AM Spanish time on 25 September 1998. On board were 34 passengers and a crew of four. The flight was under the command of 39-year old Captain Diego Clavero Muñoz and 28-year old First Officer Bartolomé Jiménez. The flight proceeded normally, without any problems and with fair weather conditions. The descent began at 8:41 Melilian time (6:41 Moroccan time). In the area of Cape Tres Forcas (the headland on which Melilla is situated), low visibility is common, as clouds accumulate between the valleys formed by the steep mountains of the cape. The descent continued in Instrument meteorological conditions. In communications with air traffic controllers, the pilot complained of the fog. Some of his last words were: "I see nothing"'. At 6:49, there were two terrain awareness and warning system (TAWS, also known as GPWS) alerts of "terrain" in the cockpit, which indicates that the aircraft was too low. At 6:50, the aircraft impacted terrain at 886 feet elevation and broke up. The accident investigation concluded "Given the facts and analysis conducted, the Commission concluded that the accident was caused by a collision with terrain in IMC. This confirms the hypothesis put forward by members of the committee of investigation from the beginning of their investigations, it is a type of CFIT accident (Controlled Flight Into Terrain) due to a combination of several factors:

Air crash

2 children, 1 adult experience carbon monoxide poisoning aboard boat in Seattle

SEATTLE - Three people were transported to a local hospital after experiencing carbon monoxide poisoning aboard a boat in a Seattle marina. Seattle Fire responded Saturday afternoon to a report of passengers on a private boat near Smith Cove experiencing symptoms of CO poisoning. A unit with the U.S. Coast Guard helped bring the boat back to shore to have the passengers meet with SFD medics. Two girls and a woman experienced minor symptoms of CO poisoning, according to a Seattle Fire Department spokesperson. All three were transported to a local hospital in stable condition. The identity of the passengers have not been released, or a cause in the CO poisoning.   The CDC says motors generate CO, a colorless and odorless gas. Often, larger boats will have the engine ventilation at the back of the vessel that when near for long periods of time, or when traveling at lower speeds or idling, the CO ventilation may pose as a health risk to passengers. Symptoms of CO poisoning include dizziness, headaches, nausea, vomiting, and chest pain. The CDC says the best ways to prevent CO poisoning on boats includes: Stay connected with Q13 News on all platforms: DOWNLOAD: Q13 News and Weather AppsWATCH: Q13 News LiveSUBSCRIBE: Q13 FOX on YouTubeFOLLOW: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram Advertisement Mostly clear and sunny for Saturday, temps in the high-60s but rain returns to Puget Sound by Sunday. Q13 News' Grace Lim has the full forecast. Heavy rains continue across the region and Flood Watches have been issued. Watch FOX 13 Morning News for the latest on the Weather Alert Day

Mass Poisoning

VIDEO: Bystanders pull victims out of burning car after rollover crash in West Springfield

by: Nancy Asiamah WEST SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Jaw-dropping video shows efforts bystanders took to save lives before first responders arrived after a rollover fiery crash in West Springfield Thursday afternoon. “Call 911!” That’s what can be heard from people at the Central Chevrolet dealership after an SUV hit the guardrail on Memorial Avenue, rolled over onto its roof, and immediately caught fire. The shocking video shows one man run over to the burning car with a fire extinguisher and hop the guardrail. The man partially extinguished the fire, opened a door, and managed to pull one person out, before other bystanders followed suit. At least 10 people rushed towards the car to help. Even when the car fire reignited, bystanders could be seen carefully continuing their efforts to make sure everyone had been rescued from the burning vehicle before police and fire officials made it to the scene. Four people, three from the SUV that caught fire, and one from another vehicle involved in the serious crash, were taken to an area hospital. One person was in critical condition Thursday night, West Springfield Police said. Their condition is unknown as of Friday night. Police believe speeding was a factor in the crash, which caused Memorial Avenue to close for several hours. That same road leads to The Big E fairgrounds.

Road Crash

Boeing’s Other Big Problem: Fixing Its Space Program

Boeing Co.’s engineering failures didn’t begin or end with the 737 MAX. Its once-dominant space program, which helped put Americans on the moon five decades ago, has also struggled. The company’s biggest space initiatives have been dogged by faulty designs, software errors and chronic cost overruns. It has lost out on recent contracts with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to return science experiments and astronauts to the moon, amid low rankings on price and technical merit. Boeing needs revenues from its defense and space arm, which makes everything from military jets to satellites, as a safety net as it navigates through the MAX crisis and slowed demand for new commercial jets in the pandemic. Its space ambitions will soon face a major test with another attempt to launch a capsule called the Starliner. In the first launch, just over a year ago without astronauts on board, a software error sent the Starliner into the wrong orbit, and then another threatened a catastrophic end to the mission. A successful launch, which could come as soon as March, would help restore the company’s reputation for reliability and engineering prowess. The problems pose a serious challenge for Chief Executive David Calhoun one year into his tenure as he charts a new course in the face of uncertainties wrought by the pandemic. After making record profit of $10.5 billion in 2018, Boeing has since lost nearly half that amount as of Sept. 30, largely due to a sharp drop in commercial aircraft deliveries and MAX-related charges. Defense and space revenue of $19.5 billion in the first nine months of last year eclipsed its commercial unit’s $11.4 billion in sales. Jefferies analysts estimate Boeing brought in more than $6 billion in space revenue for all of last year. While the MAX has resumed flying passengers again after a nearly two-year grounding, quality lapses with popular 787 Dreamliners have stalled deliveries as Boeing workers fix production defects of newly finished jetliners. With travel demand still weak, Boeing is likely to remain heavily dependent in coming years on its defense and space business. Boeing declined to make any executives available for interviews. Mr. Calhoun said in a written statement that the company was “proud of all the products and services our engineers have developed and delivered to our commercial and military customers over these last difficult years, and of the meaningful progress we are making in safety, transparency and quality.” On the Starliner capsule and MAX alike, software and hardware systems weren’t working properly together due to inadequate testing, insufficient resources or a combination of the two. Engineers working on different parts of the same program failed to coordinate with each other or to properly integrate software and hardware systems—and senior managers failed to resolve the disconnects, according to government reviews and people familiar with the matter. Boeing’s defense operation has seen similar missteps. The division has had long-running problems delivering an aerial-refueling tanker that remains years behind schedule and billions over budget. Air Force brass ultimately took charge of designing fixes last year. The stumbles coincided with what former and current executives, including Mr. Calhoun, have flagged as another problem: excessive focus on financial performance, a long-term trend Boeing is trying to reverse by empowering its engineers. Senior Pentagon and NASA officials have privately raised concerns about the range of Boeing’s travails, according to several participants in those conversations. They have questioned Boeing’s ability to deliver on promises about the performance and reliability of its products. An Air Force spokesman said the service is “committed to working with Boeing to field critical capabilities for the warfighter.” NASA officials have said the agency is looking forward to Boeing’s coming uncrewed test and later company missions carrying astronauts. Mr. Calhoun, who took over as CEO in January 2020 after spending a decade on Boeing’s board, has pledged to get the company’s troubled programs back on track and to focus more on improving technical excellence and engineering decision-making. The company has revamped its internal safety-reporting procedures and the board’s monitoring of overall safety issues—all aimed at easing schedule and cost pressures on engineers and giving senior leaders greater oversight of emerging problems. In November, Boeing hired an engineer who previously worked at Elon Musk’s Space Exploration Technologies Corp., or SpaceX, to be its first high-ranking executive overseeing software design across the company. On Wednesday, the company named a longtime senior engineer as its first chief aerospace safety officer. There are early signs Boeing’s troubled Air Force tanker program, initially slated to cost $4.9 billion but later viewed as an albatross by senior Pentagon leaders, is getting on track. Under a deal with Boeing struck last year, the Pentagon wound up taking over the primary design of a revamped visual system essential for allowing aircraft to safely link up with the tankers. Boeing’s previous design adjustments proved ineffective, according to the Air Force, often preventing the tanker from performing its primary function. In exchange for ceding control over the technical details, Boeing got nearly $900 million in withheld payments when it was bleeding cash. In return, it must foot the bill for major design changes, which some people familiar with the matter estimate could add up to at least $3 billion more in costs for Boeing, though a person close to the company disputed that the costs would reach that high. Air Force procurement chief Will Roper said the Pentagon is happy with the tanker’s new direction, and described it as the result of an “engineering-first” approach under Mr. Calhoun. Mr. Roper said Boeing’s shift marked a “complete turnaround on this program.” Since the height of the Cold War, Boeing’s name has been synonymous with dependable jetliners, top-notch military aircraft and ambitious U.S. space endeavors—starting with rockets and lunar rovers the company created for Apollo astronauts in the 1960s and continuing through its ongoing management of the International Space Station. Some former Boeing engineers and government officials trace the start of Boeing’s woes to its 1997 merger with struggling rival McDonnell Douglas, which they blame for infusing the new entity’s culture with greater focus on financial management. While veteran engineers have said they never lost sight of safety, some say reorganizations and turnover hampered communication and accountability. Rep. Peter DeFazio (D., Ore.), who as chairman of the House Transportation Committee investigated the MAX tragedies, blamed Boeing’s failure to add initial safeguards to the jet on the company’s focus on money and sticking to a development schedule. “That is what ultimately drove Boeing to this tragedy, which is the press for getting this plane out, to compete with Airbus, and they were of course driven by Wall Street,” Mr. DeFazio said in September. Boeing has said its engineers didn’t rush what it has described as the MAX’s methodical development and didn’t take shortcuts at the expense of safety. The company has said it was trying to learn from its mistakes to prevent such crashes from happening again. Boeing reached a $2.5 billion settlement this month with the Justice Department on a criminal charge that two company pilots had deceived regulators about design slip-ups and flight-control hazards. In court documents, prosecutors said the wrongdoing financially benefited Boeing but wasn’t widespread throughout the company. In Boeing’s defense and space businesses, an increased reliance on fixed-price government contracts has squeezed profit margins because the company typically had to pay the bill for mistakes, further heightening cost and schedule pressures. Meanwhile, Boeing’s large overhead on top of its multilayered bureaucracy has made it difficult to compete with more nimble rivals such as SpaceX. The launch of the uncrewed Starliner spacecraft from the Kennedy Space Center in December 2019 was supposed to be a decisive win for Boeing. The company’s leaders planned for directors and other VIPs to enjoy space-themed gift bags and cheering from a grandstand during a party after the early-morning liftoff. Within minutes of the launch, NASA’s controllers knew the flight was going wrong. A software error stranded the spacecraft in the wrong orbit. Hours later, ground controllers had difficulty maintaining communication with the vehicle, and later scrambled to fix another major software mistake. The Starliner, which never made it to the International Space Station as planned, eventually returned and landed safely. NASA and Boeing experts quickly determined the capsule’s thrusters had failed to start at the right time and ended up depleting their fuel supply, due to faulty software testing, according to industry and government officials. NASA’s leadership, concerned Boeing had a broader cultural problem in light of the MAX crisis, ordered a sweeping outside review, resulting in dozens of recommendations. Many advocated greater attention to plugging gaps in getting software and hardware to work together properly. Two fundamental software problems emerged on the Starliner. One involved a timer on the capsule that hadn’t been properly synchronized with the rocket’s internal clock. Boeing didn’t perform a test to verify various software systems were properly coordinated, which people familiar with the matter estimated would have caught the error, at a cost of about $1 million. A separate major mistake involved software controlling thrusters that help to angle the craft properly to avoid damaging the heat shield that protects the capsule, and any astronauts inside, during re-entry. Engineers detected and were able to correct that software glitch from the ground in time to ensure that what would be the crew’s portion of the capsule safely separated from the rest of the spacecraft before re-entry. After the botched mission, Boeing’s board—already frustrated by the MAX crisis—ousted then-CEO Dennis Muilenburg and replaced him with Mr. Calhoun. Mr. Muilenburg had once boasted that Boeing would be first to put humans on Mars. The company booked a $410 million charge to account for the Starliner launch’s redo. Current and former government and industry officials blame the spotty testing on cost-cutting and inadequate staff. Boeing was years late delivering the Starliner under a fixed-price contract that created incentives for managers to keep a lid on testing and personnel costs. In addition, the company was vying with SpaceX to get the first astronauts into orbit on a commercially owned and operated capsule. Mr. Musk’s team handily won that race with launches in May and November. Another closely held competitor, run by Amazon.com Inc.’s founder Jeff Bezos, is also taking aim at Boeing’s legacy of space leadership. A NASA spokesman said “deadline pressures and cost cutting were not identified” by a joint NASA-Boeing review team as causes of the Starliner’s problems. Patricia Sanders, chairwoman of NASA’s independent safety-advisory committee, said the signs point to basic lapses in Boeing’s engineering discipline. “It’s possible that there was some complacency that set in,” she said, adding that Boeing leaders now seem to realize they have to change course. “There is a sense that Boeing overall has woken up.” Boeing, under pressure from government officials, has added software engineers to the Starliner team, industry officials said. A newly appointed program manager, John Vollmer, is known for his ability to execute on difficult programs, according to people familiar with the matter, and is prodding Starliner engineers to more thoroughly test software and address problems identified by the flurry of post-failure reviews. A Boeing spokesman said the company is poised to begin full-mission simulation testing as soon as next month after making software changes recommended by an independent review ordered by NASA. Kathy Lueders, NASA’s head of human space exploration, has singled out the agency’s overreliance on Boeing’s traditional engineering expertise as the crux of the Starliner’s failures. Rather than reflexively trusting Boeing’s technical judgment in most matters—as NASA had long done—“we do need to change our assumptions as to how we are working together” to ensure Boeing avoids mistakes, she told reporters in July. The upshot was tighter restrictions on Boeing’s engineering decisions. NASA has ramped up its own staffing and oversight of Boeing, acknowledging it probably paid too much attention to keeping tabs on Mr. Musk’s company, until recent years viewed by career agency officials as an outsider and upstart. In addition, government watchdogs have criticized Boeing for persistently missing deadlines and busting budgets as the prime contractor for the nation’s premier deep-space rocket, the mammoth Space Launch System. Every major component of the heavy-lift booster has experienced technical challenges and performance issues, according to a March 2020 report from NASA’s inspector general, resulting in at least $2 billion in recent cost increases. Additional delays could add another $8 billion. After nearly a decade of development, it still isn’t slated to fly until November at the earliest. A long-awaited test intended to fire up all four main engines for the first time is scheduled for Saturday. As its engineers work to vet the Starliner’s software, the Boeing spokesman said, the company will perform a full end-to-end test of the capsule’s mission, from prelaunch to landing. For the next blastoff, people familiar with the matter said, Boeing isn’t planning to hold a flashy party.

New achievements in aerospace

United Airlines Flight 608 crash

United Airlines Flight 608 was a Douglas DC-6 airliner, registration NC37510, on a scheduled passenger flight from Los Angeles to Chicago when it crashed at 12:29 pm on October 24, 1947 about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) southeast of Bryce Canyon Airport, Utah, United States. [1] There were no survivors among the 5 crew members and 47 passengers on board. It was the first crash of a DC-6, and at the time it was the second deadliest air crash in the United States,[2] surpassed by Eastern Air Lines Flight 605 by only one fatality. United Flight 608 departed from Los Angeles, California, at 10:23 a.m. on a routine flight to Chicago, Illinois. At 12:21 p.m. the airplane's pilot, Capt. Everett L. McMillen, radioed that there was a fire in the baggage compartment which they could not control, with smoke entering the passenger cabin. The flight requested an emergency clearance to Bryce Canyon Airport, Utah, which was granted. As it descended, pieces of the airplane, including portions of the right wing, started to fall off and one of the emergency flares on the wing ignited. At 12:27 p.m., the last radio transmission was heard from the airplane: "We may make it - approaching a strip." Accounts from observers state the airplane passed over the canyon mesa, approximately 1,500 yards (1,400 m) from the airstrip. With gusts from the canyon floor flowing down the side of the mesa, the crippled aircraft, only 10 feet (3.0 m) off the ground, was pulled out of control and crashed. Ground observers reported that occupants of the airliner, prior to the impact, were throwing various items out of the cabin door in an attempt to lighten the load as the DC-6 descended over the canyon. The airliner crashed onto National Park Service land, killing all 52 passengers and crew on board. The October 25, 1947, edition of The Bridgeport (Conn.) Post reported the incident thus: Trailing smoke and flame for at least 22 miles [35 km] before It crashed, the giant ship plowed a smoke-blackened swath for 800 yards [730 m] alongside State Highway 22 [Johns Valley Road] just east of the Bryce Canyon airport. The scene is in southern Utah, about 275 miles [443 km] south of Salt Lake City. The engines, scorched and twisted, were thrown 200 to 300 feet [61 to 91 m] beyond the burned area, while a piece of the tail - 18 to 30 feet [5.5 to 9.1 m] long - was the largest part of the aircraft remaining. The bodies, burned and unrecognizable for the most part, were horribly torn apart. Two infants and 21 or more women were among the victims, one of the women was an expectant mother. The mutilated remains were flung across the 7,300-foot [2,200 m] plateau or blown into the 200-foot [61 m] deep canyon just behind the impact point. All bodies were left at the scene until this morning, with guards posted to protect them from coyotes. Pending an inquest, several groups of investigators started official probes today on the cause of the crash. One thing that was known, however, was that Capt. Everett L. MacMillen of Balboa Island, Calif., the pilot, reported by radio at 12:21 p.m. (MST), a few minutes before the incident that fire had broken out, probably in the airplane's baggage compartment, and that the cabin was filled with smoke. Five minutes later the veteran of 18 years of flying on western routes opened his microphone and reported: 'The tail fire is going out. We may get down and we may not. Best place we can.' At 12:27 he reported he had turned back for Bryce Canyon airport and said 'May make it. Think we have a chance now, Approaching the strip.' The next radio message came from the airport tower here at 12:32 p.m. It said, 'Fire one mile east.' The ship had gone down at that point. Just over three weeks later, on November 11, 1947, a similar in-flight incident almost claimed a second commercial DC-6 airliner. An American Airlines DC-6 (NC90741), on a flight from San Francisco to Chicago with 25 crew and passengers aboard, reported an on-board fire over Arizona and managed to make an emergency landing in flames at the airport at Gallup, New Mexico. All 25 occupants escaped the burning plane, and the fire was extinguished. Unlike the Bryce Canyon crash a month earlier, investigators now had a damaged, but intact aircraft to examine and study. The cause of both the Bryce Canyon crash and the near-fatal Gallup incident was eventually traced to a design flaw. A cabin heater intake scoop was positioned too close to the number 3 alternate fuel tank air vent. If flightcrews allowed a fuel tank to be overfilled during a routine fuel transfer between wing tanks, it could lead to several gallons of excess fuel flowing out of the tank vent and then being sucked into the cabin heater system, which then ignited the fuel. This caused the fire which destroyed the United aircraft at Bryce Canyon and severely damaged the American aircraft that landed in flames at Gallup. [3] In the Bryce Canyon crash, the Civil Aeronautics Board found the causes to be the design flaw, inadequate training of the crew about the danger, and the failure of the crew to halt the fuel transfer before the tank overflowed. The aircraft wreckage was loaded onto trucks and moved to Douglas Aircraft Company in California where the airplane was reassembled in an effort to determine the cause of the crash. As a result of the disaster the entire fleet of 80 Douglas DC-6 aircraft, including the U.S. President's aircraft (which was a sister ship), were ordered grounded and recalled. Design changes that were made thereafter still stand today.

Air crash

Long Beach’s aerospace sector reinvigorated by new companies, innovation with an eye on space

Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket takes off from the company’s New Zealand complex, Dec. 16, 2018. The ELaNa-19 mission delivered NASA nanosatellites into orbit. Aviation and aerospace roots run deep in Long Beach—about 80 years to be exact. The sector has ebbed and flowed through the decades but has remained a constant force in the city. In the past, it was military and commercial aircraft. Today, companies have their sights set higher: Earth’s orbit and beyond. In 1940, construction began on an 11-building Douglas Aircraft facility on what is now the 220-acre Douglas Park. Business was booming due to World War II. At one point, some 160,000 workers were assembling planes in Long Beach, including many “Rosie the Riveters.” The war’s conclusion led to a cut in government contracts and the loss of thousands of jobs. Still, plane production continued in Long Beach under the name Douglas—bombers, Globemasters and eventually commercial airliners with the DC-8 and 9. In 1967, Douglas merged with McDonnell Aircraft Company to form the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, which continued the city’s aerospace and aviation legacy with the production of the DC-10, the C-17 Globemaster III and more. In the mid-1990s, Boeing bought McDonnell Douglas for $13.3 billion and rebranded its airliners. But in 2006, Boeing ceased production of its commercial craft in Long Beach, leaving only the C-17 in production in the city with a small fraction of the workforce that once pumped out as many as one aircraft every hour. The C-17 operation was shuttered in 2015. Though airplane production in Long Beach is gone, Douglas Park today is home to dozens of industrial buildings, several of which are adding their own chapters to the city’s aerospace history. Over the last five years, Long Beach has become a growing hub for rocket manufacturing and small-satellite launch companies. The employment pool in Los Angeles County is highly desirable for tech companies. Long Beach, with a university of its own and its rich aerospace history, is an ideal location for these up-and-coming companies. Also, industrial real estate is virtually nonexistent across the county, particularly in the South Bay area, so the redevelopment of Douglas Park was able to draw in many companies looking to expand. “I’m proud to see the growth that our aerospace, rocket and satellite industry has had over the last several years in Long Beach,” Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia said. “There’s no doubt that investment in supporting this industry in the months and years ahead will help us strengthen and build back the Long Beach and regional economy.” Here is a look at four innovative aerospace operations that now call Long Beach home. Virgin Orbit Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne rocket—carrying a payload of 10 small satellites—deploys from Cosmic Girl, the company’s modified 747, Jan. 17, 2021. In 2015, Virgin Galactic—the human spaceflight and transportation arm of Sir Richard Branson’s empire—moved into its new home in one of the first phases of Douglas Park Development. In 2017, the Long Beach facility transitioned to become the home of Virgin Orbit, a new branch of the company dedicated to a new method of launching smallsats into orbit. Virgin Galactic continues its operations outside of Long Beach. While most rockets launch from a stationary ground platform, the Virgin Orbit team has developed a method similar to military aircraft weapons systems: the company mounts its 70-square-foot LauncherOne rocket under the wing of the firm’s Boeing 747 jet, aptly named Cosmic Girl. When the plane reaches 35,000 feet, LauncherOne is deployed, propelling itself through the Earth’s atmosphere to deliver its smallsat payload. The company’s first launch attempt on Memorial Day last year failed because of a breach in a high-pressure line carrying cryogenic liquid oxygen, causing the engine to stop providing thrust. But Virgin Orbits’ second attempt was another story. “It was unbelievable,” President and Chief Executive Dan Hart said in an interview. “Absolutely superb.” Cosmic Girl’s second mission was not merely a test flight, Hart said. After much discussion with NASA, the company upped the mission’s ante and put a 10-satellite payload into its LauncherOne system. “Scientists and students had spent years developing these satellites, so the sense of responsibility was pretty heavy on the team,” Hart said. “It was a lot of work—long hours, solving lots of problems along the way. But as the flight works out, knowing we are traveling somewhere, getting to space, it’s an incredible combination of fatigue and euphoria. “When we released all 10 satellites in perfect orbit, everyone on the team had this incredible grin on these tired faces,” Hart added. “It was really beautiful to behold.” With the successful launch and delivery of multiple satellites, Virgin Orbit is pushing forward, Hart said. The company has three more flights slated for 2021 and Hart said he expects to double the number of missions in 2022. Depending on demand, Hart said Virgin Orbits’ current capability is about 20 launches per year, which is only hampered by manufacturing limitations. If demand were to exceed those limitations, Hart said, the company could tap into other resources to “easily” double production. Other than manufacturing limitations, the only other cap on LauncherOne missions is the number of times a 747 can take off each year, Hart said. In a Jan. 18 tweet, Former Assistant Secretary of the U.S. Air Force Will Roper said the Virgin Orbit technology is “the satellite equivalent of keeping an ace up your sleeve.” “This is a big disruptor—and hopefully a deterrent—for future space conflicts,” he tweeted. Virgin Orbit’s LauncherOne attached to the companies modified Boeing 747 prior to its first successful mission in January 2021. Photo courtesy of Virgin Orbit. Virgin Orbit has a wide array of contracts with various missions attached to each. The Department of Defense, NASA, the Royal Netherlands Air Force, a consortium of Polish universities and numerous other public and private organizations have all signed on with Virgin Orbit, Hart said. Most of the company’s contracts are for missions to deliver payloads into Earth’s orbit, Hart explained. But the firm is working with one group on a potential mission to Mars and has had some discussions about a Venus mission, he said. When Virgin Orbit was first established in Long Beach, the company had about 230 employees in one building. Since then, the firm has expanded into a second building and boasts more than 500 employees. “Long Beach has been an aerospace center for many years,” Hart said of the company’s decision to be based in the city. “There is such talent. We have brought in a number of people right out of school or early in their career. And it’s wonderfully diverse, energetic, creative and youthful. It’s a unique place to live.” SpinLaunch One Long Beach aerospace company is pioneering a new method of smallsat ground launch that would literally hurl its payload into space using kinetic energy. Founded in 2014 by Chief Executive Jonathan Yaney in Sunnyvale, the company is developing a ground-based launch system that uses a large electrical mass accelerator to provide the initial thrust, propelling smallsats into orbit at hypersonic speeds. SpinLaunch relocated its headquarters to Long Beach in January 2019, where it took over a new 140,000-square-foot industrial and office building with about 30 employees and grand plans. “Long Beach has become an important hub for … aerospace, innovation,” Yaney said, noting that the move has allowed him to expand his company in a region where industrial real estate is hard to come by. Over the last two years, thanks to various investors and funding sources, including a recent contract with the Department of Defense for a prototype, Yaney said SpinLaunch has quadrupled its staff as it pushes forward with development. Yaney said his team has made strides in technology development and advancement of its launch facilities over the last year. While not ready to share details of its progress, Yaney said the company will soon be announcing milestones associated with its Spaceport America-based suborbital launch platform. Aside from the ability to expand, Yaney said he was drawn to Long Beach because of the area’s work pool, Douglas Park’s proximity to Long Beach Airport and walkable amenities such as dining and shopping. “[The city] has historically played a key role in Southern California’s history of aviation and aerospace and is experiencing a rebirth with New Space,” Yaney said of the industry’s recent commercialisation after years of governmental monopoly. Rocket Lab Long Beach’s most seasoned rocket manufacturer, Rocket Lab, was founded in 2006 by New Zealand engineer Peter Beck. The aerospace manufacturer became a U.S. company in 2013, setting up its headquarters in Huntington Beach. But the Orange County beach city was too far removed from prospective employees in Los Angeles County, Beck said, which was a major factor for the company’s move to Long Beach at the start of 2020. Additionally, like Virgin and SpinLaunch, the company signed a lease for a brand new building in Douglas Park and was able to build out the interior to their specifications, Beck said. While Virgin and SpinLaunch are using—or developing—new technologies to deliver payloads into space, Rocket Lab is using traditional rockets built in Long Beach and launched from land-based pads in Virginia and New Zealand. Combined, both complexes are licensed for up to 130 launches per year. A component of Rocket Lab’s Electron rocket seperates as it enters a new phase of its “As the Crow Flies” mission in October 2019. Photo courtesy of Rocket Lab. In 2017, the company launched one rocket. In 2018, three rockets. In 2019, six. “[We were] on track to maintain that cadence in 2020 before COVID-19 led to statewide and New Zealand national lockdowns, which temporarily halted launch operations,” the company said in an email. Still, the company managed seven launches in 2020. Rocket Launch has 12 launches slated for 2021, including a moon mission for NASA. “The only other people who launch more than us are countries,” Beck said. Over the course of 17 missions, Rocket Lab has successfully delivered more than 97 satellites into orbit, Beck said, including the Nov. 19 “Return to Sender” mission, which deployed 29 smallsats. “We have a private mission to Venus and a bunch of other interplanetary missions that we get to announce soon from various customers,” Beck said. In addition to its successful payload delivery, “Return to Sender” marked Rocket Lab’s first attempt at “first stage recovery.” After the first stage of rocket flight, a portion of the rocket separates as it enters the second phase. Rocket Lab successfully retrieved the first stage component, which represents a major milestone in making its Electron a reusable rocket and allow the company to increase launch frequency. But 2020 wasn’t all success for Rocket Lab. In addition to the turbulence brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic, the company’s Fourth of July mission that featured payloads from Canon Electronics, among others—and dubbed “Pics or it Didn’t Happen”—failed to reach orbit and deliver its payload of seven satellites. A single faulty electrical connection was determined to be the cause of the failure. Rocket Lab has about 100 production and assembly staff in Long Beach to build its rockets and staff its mission control. But among multiple facilities around the world, the company has 530 employees. Rocket Lab, unlike the other Long Beach-based companies, has also branched out beyond launches and is producing components for the satellites themselves. The latest addition to the satellite division came in March 2020, when Rocket Lab announced the acquisition of Toronto-based Sinclair Interplanetary. Relativity Space The new kid on Long Beach’s proverbial space block is Relativity Space, founded in 2015 by Tim Ellis and Jordan Noone in Los Angeles. Like Rocket Lab, Relativity is in the business of producing traditional rockets used for smallsat deliveries. But while 3-D printing has been used by Rocket Lab and the aerospace industry at large for years in parts production, Relativity has taken it a step further. “We’re currently building the Terran 1, which is the first entirely 3-D printed rocket,” said Caryn Schenewerk, the company’s vice president of regulatory and government affairs. “We’re building humanity’s multi-planetary future.” To print entire rockets, Relativity created Stargate, a system that uses laser beams to melt metal wire and form each component. The wire is made of a metal developed by Relativity. Stargate is a 3-D printing system developed by Relativity Space used to print 95% of its rockets. The system uses lasers to melt a metal also developed by Relativity into each component. Photo courtesty of Relativity Space. Whereas Virgin Orbit and Rocket Lab’s vehicles can carry payloads of smallsats between 500 kg (about 1,100 pounds) and 300 kg (about 660 pounds) respectively, the Terran 1 is capable of delivering payloads of up to 1,250 kg (about 2,756 pounds). The rocket will still be carrying smallsats, but they will be on the larger side of the spectrum, sometimes nearly 500 kg. Relativity is still in the development phase, with tests of its engines taking place at NASA’s Stennis Space Center in Mississippi. The company is constructing its launch site at Cape Canaveral in Florida and is slated for its first launch later this year, which will be a demonstration mission, Scherewerk said. Schenewerk said Relativity also is working to set up a second launch site at Vandenberg Air Force Base on the West Coast within the next year. For the next few years, Relativity’s missions will remain in the single digits, Schenewerk said. But with the capability of building a vehicle from start to finish in 60 days, she said the company will be positioned to be part of a rapid response launch, a term used by Space Force to describe rapidly deployed craft for various missions. Sales for Relativity’s service have been “robust,” Schenewerk said, noting two recent contracts with NASA and global security and aerospace company Lockheed Martin. The company moved into its new home at Douglas Park last summer, while the pandemic was wreaking havoc on most industries. But most of the company’s employees were well equipped to work at home, Schenewerk said, giving the company time to work on the build-out of its new facility and to bring its printers online. The flexible work environment stemming from the pandemic, Schenewerk said, also has helped the company handle its quickly multiplying growth at its new home. “We’ve more than doubled in size in the last year,” Schenewerk said, noting that the company has grown from around 100 employees before its move to Long Beach to around 280 now. “We’ll be in the 500-employee range by the end of this year is the expectation.” To accommodate its growth, Schenewerk said the company is working with city officials to identify opportunities for expansion within Long Beach but would not disclose any details. Schenewerk did say that the company is working with Pacific Gateway, Long Beach’s workforce development arm, to tap into the area’s diversity. “We’re building rockets but we’re also trying to build a company that thinks about the inclusive future of aerospace for the workforce that is engaging in these exciting endeavors,” she said. “Long Beach has a long history of aerospace and aviation and there is a great opportunity to work with the city to continue that history.”

New achievements in aerospace

Investigative Expedition Seeks Evidence at MS Estonia Wreck Site

Relatives of the Estonia ferry disaster have organized a privately-funded expedition to look for clues into one of the maritime industry's deadliest peacetime tragedies. Over the weekend, 46 people set off from the Dutch port of Eemshaven on board research vessel Sentinel, headed for the wreck site off the Finnish island of Uto. “We have been preparing for the expedition for three months now and we remain optimistic. Our goal is to map all the damage suffered by the vessel, photograph and scan instances of such damage, as well as investigate the car deck and the surroundings of the wreck site,” said Margus Kurm, manager of the SA Mare Liberum, an initiative founded by relatives of the wreck victims. The Estonia is among the most controversial marine casualties in recent history. On the night of September 27, 1994, the ro/pax ferry got under way from Tallinn to Stockholm on a scheduled run. The weather was rough, with winds of up to 40 knots and waves of up to 20 feet. At about 0055 hours the next morning, passengers heard a loud bang. 15 minutes later, the vessel's bow visor came loose, leading to flooding on her vehicle decks. She rapidly listed to starboard, reaching 60 degrees over the course of the next 15 minutes. It was not possible to launch her lifeboats due to the heavy list, and passengers on the boat deck began to abandon ship into the water. At 0150, less than an hour after the first signs of trouble, she slipped below. Hundreds of people managed to abandon ship, but they had to contend with heavy waves and deadly temperatures until rescuers arrived. Despite the efforts of nearby vessels and multiple rescue helicopters, only 137 out of the 989 people on board Estonia survived. “Although during these decades numerous different investigations have been carried out, they have not been able to give the survivors and close relatives of the deceased exhaustive answers regarding the reason why Estonia perished,” said Kurm. During the expedition, divers plan to conduct underwater research in order to investigate the shipwreck on the sea bottom. All evidence will be analyzed by Dr Andrzej Jasionowski, a forensic naval architect specializing in damaged vessel hydrodynamics and simulation. The expedition is privately funded from donations at a cost of $930,000. The research vessel has been chartered from the German company RS Offshore, and comes equipped with four underwater robots. Last year, a private expedition organized by documentary filmmakers Henrik Evertsson and Linus Andersson found what appeared to be a 12-foot hole in Estonia's hull - an element that was not discussed in the official accident investigation. In response, Swedish authorities charged them with violating a 1995 treaty that protects the Estonia site from disturbance; in February 2021, a court in Gothenburg dismissed the charges.

Shipwreck

'I was diagnosed with cancer at 32 and needed my breasts and ovaries removed'

Emma Hughes, from Blackwood, was diagnosed with cancer at the age of 32 (Image: Matthew Horwood) Keep up to date with the latest stories with our twice daily WalesOnline newsletter Invalid EmailSomething went wrong, please try again later. Sign up now We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you've consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info Thank you for subscribingWe have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice At the age of 32, Emma Hughes thought she was too young to be struck down with cancer. But after finding a lump in her right breast she decided to go to her GP just to err on the side of caution. It was the start of a long and traumatic journey for the mum-of-two who not only needed both breasts removed, but also both ovaries which brought on early menopause. For more health-related content please go here . Read more: 'One of my seven-year-old twins needs a heart transplant' "I ignored it for a while, but eventually went to my GP when it didn't go away and seemed as if it might be getting bigger," recalled Emma, who first saw her doctor in 2018. "The GP assured me it was probably nothing because of my age, but did refer me to the breast clinic where after being examined I was given an ultrasound. When they did another in my armpit area and said they wanted to take biopsies I began to worry, although at 32 I still did not think it could be cancer." Subscribe to the WalesOnline newsletter today You can now get all of the need-to-know news sent straight to your inbox by signing up for our free WalesOnline newsletter.

Famous Person - Sick

Finnish famine of 1866–68

The Great Famine of 1695–1697, or simply the Great Famine, was a catastrophic famine that affected the present Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Norway and Sweden, all of which belonged to the Swedish Empire with the exception of Norway. The areas worst affected were the Swedish province of Finland and Norrland in Sweden proper. The Great Famine of 1695–1697 was concurrent with the "seven ill years", a period of national famine in Scotland in the 1690s. In the Swedish province of Finland, the Great Famine of 1695–97 was also referred to as "The Years of Many Deaths" by some Finnish historians, because it killed about a third of the Finnish population in only two years,[1] or about 150,000. [2] It was Finland's worst demographic catastrophe. From 1688 onward, Sweden had been affected by early frost and bad harvests. This culminated in the winter of 1695, which was described as the coldest since 1658 and the rye did not flower before July. Because of this, the Great Famine of 1695 is also referred to as Det stora svartåret ("The Great Black Year"). [2] The harvest of 1696, furthermore, was reportedly so bad that each farm produced only one loaf of rye bread. Outside of Finland, the northernmost provinces of Sweden were the most severely affected. Desperate famine victims from the countryside left for the cities in search for food, especially to the capital of Stockholm, where in the spring of 1697 the streets were reportedly strewn with corpses and people dying of starvation. [2] Israel Kolmodin wrote the psalm Den blomstertid nu kommer in 1695 in connection to the famine, intended as a prayer to God that the next summer would bring food. [2] The 1690s marked the lowest point of the Little Ice Age, of colder and wetter weather. [3] This reduced the altitude at which crops could be grown and shortened the growing season by up to two months in extreme years, as it did in the 1690s. [4] The massive eruptions of volcanoes at Hekla in Iceland (1693) and Serua (1693) and Aboina (1694) in Indonesia may also have polluted the atmosphere and filtered out significant amounts of sunlight. [5]

Famine

ICE tried to deport a former prison firefighter to Vietnam. Now he’s back with family in Hayward

Phi Pham hugs a friend after arriving at the Oakland International Airport on Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. Pham was released from prison for good behavior in June, then turned over into federal immigration custody. Pham, a Vietnamese refugee and former inmate firefighter, was released after Vietnam didn’t issue a travel document for his deportation. Phi Pham embraces his nephew Karsen Pham, 4, after he was released from ICE detention and landed at the Oakland International Airport on Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. There were hugs, fist bumps and chants of “welcome home” at Oakland International Airport’s arrivals area on Monday afternoon. Phi “Tommy” Pham was home after almost being deported to a country he’s never been to. It was a long-awaited reunion for 30-year-old Pham and his family. Pham was sentenced to 14 years in state prison following a violent crime he committed when he was 20. In June, almost 10 years into his sentence, Pham was granted early release from Folsom State Prison for good behavior and after earning commendations for his work as an inmate firefighter. But instead of returning to his family in Hayward, Pham was turned over to federal immigration authorities and flown to Colorado, where he spent the past five months in a detention cell. Pham was born in a refugee camp in the Philippines to Vietnamese parents who fled their country after the withdrawal of U.S. forces. The family arrived in the U.S. in 1991. While Pham lived here as a legal permanent resident, he never became a naturalized citizen. That left him open to being issued a final order of removal once he finished his prison term, which immigrant right activists characterized as a double punishment for those who serve their sentences only to be released into U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody. In August, an immigration judge ordered Pham removed to Vietnam. But the Southeast Asian nation didn’t issue a travel document needed to accept the deportation, and it’s unclear if it will, said Anoop Prasad, an attorney with Asian Americans Advancing Justice — Asian Law Caucus, which represents Pham. “Vietnam is not easily able to confirm if he is from there,” Prasad said. Phi Pham (left) walks to the car with his brother Kevin Pham (right) after landing at the Oakland International Airport on Monday, Nov. 8, 2021. Pham was looking forward to hugging his mother, who has Stage 4 renal disease. Pham’s case illustrates the schism that occurs when the U.S. government wants to deport individuals to a country that refuses to accept them. In Pham’s case, not only did Vietnam never issue him a birth certificate, a 2008 repatriation agreement between Washington, D.C., and Hanoi prohibits the deportation of Vietnamese nationals who arrived before 1995, as his family did. U.S. immigration law gives the federal government 90 days to deport someone after issuing a final order of removal. If it doesn’t make that timeline, ICE has to review whether the detainee poses a public safety threat or flight risk and can release them if not. “We submitted evidence showing (Pham) is not a danger, not a flight risk and showing where he will be living,” Prasad said. Pham’s release does not mean he is safe and secure, however. Barring a gubernatorial pardon, Pham has an active removal order and must check in regularly with ICE. If Vietnam issues a travel document, ICE likely will move to deport him. That cloud of uncertainty wasn’t present on Monday, as Pham descended into the baggage claim area in a crisp white-and-gray tracksuit and was greeted with a wrapped-candy lei and a running hug from his 4-year-old nephew Karsen Pham. “Uncle Tommy’s home,” Pham’s sister Jenny Pham told her son as they embraced. Three of Pham’s siblings came to greet him, having last seen him in person over two years ago, his sister Linda Pham said. Childhood friends, his attorney and members of Asian Prisoner Support Committee also came to the airport. Only missing was Pham’s mother, who has stage three renal disease and is undergoing dialysis. Linda Pham said her mom was waiting at the family’s Hayward home, eager to hug her son. Tommy Pham longed to claim it. He’d been replaying their reunion in his head and knew exactly how it would go. “(I will) give a big hug, tell her I’m sorry for what I did, and now I’m here to help,” Pham told The Chronicle. Then he left the airport to make the future come true.

Famous Person - Commit Crime - Release

Iceland volcano: eruption under way in Fagradalsfjall near Reykjavik

No-fly zone established and public advised to stay away from area as red cloud lights up night sky First published on Fri 19 Mar 2021 23.47 GMT A volcano has erupted in Iceland near the capital Reykjavik after thousands of small earthquakes in the area in recent weeks, the Icelandic meteorological office has said. A red cloud lit up the night sky after the eruption began in Fagradalsfjall on Friday about 40km (25 miles) from the capital Reykjavik. A no-fly zone has been established in the area but the eruption appeared to be subsiding as of Saturday evening. “Volcanic eruption has begun in Fagradalsfjall,” the meteorological office (IMO) said in a tweet on Friday night, referring to a mountain located south-west of the capital. Streams of red lava could be seen flowing out of a fissure in the ground in video footage filmed by a coast guard helicopter and posted by the IMO on Twitter. “The fissure is estimated to be about 200 metres (219 yards) long,” the IMO said. Police and coastguard officials raced to the scene late on Friday and the public has been advised to stay away from the area. “I can see the glowing red sky from my window,” said Rannveig Gudmundsdottir, a resident in the town of Grindavik, only 8 km (5 miles) from the eruption. “Everyone here is getting into their cars to drive up there,” she said. More than 40,000 earthquakes have occurred in the area in the past four weeks, a huge jump from the 1,000-3,000 earthquakes registered each year since 2014. The Krysuvik volcanic system, which does not have a central volcano, is located south of Mount Fagradalsfjall on the Reykjanes peninsula in south-west Iceland. “The first notification was received by the Meteorological Office at 2140 GMT. The eruption was confirmed through webcams and satellite images,” the institute said on its website. While Iceland’s Keflavik international airport, the country’s largest, and the small fishing port of Grindavik are only a few kilometres away, the area is uninhabited and the eruption is not expected to present any danger. Volcanic eruptions in the region are known as effusive eruptions, where lava flows steadily out of the ground, as opposed to explosive ones such as that of Eyjafjallajökull in 2010 which spewed ash clouds high into the sky and paralysed air traffic in Europe for weeks. However, all flights in and out of the airport have been halted. The Krysuvik volcanic system has been inactive for the past 900 years, according to the meteorological office, while the last eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula dates back almost 800 years to 1240. But the region has been under increased surveillance for several weeks after an earthquake of magnitude 5.7 was registered on 24 February on the outskirts of Reykjavik, followed by an unusual number of smaller tremors – more than 50,000, the highest number since digital recordings began in 1991. Located between the Eurasian and the North American tectonic plates, among the largest on the planet, Iceland is a seismic and volcanic hotspot as the two plates move in opposite directions. The source of the eruption is a large body of molten rock, known as magma, which has pushed its way to the surface over the past weeks, instigating the earthquakes.The number of quakes had slowed down in recent days, however, leading geologists to say that an eruption would be less likely.A helicopter with scientific personnel aboard had been scrambled to observe the eruption, IMO said.

Volcano Eruption

Adani avoids multi-million-dollar fine over Abbot Point sediment water discharge

Updated 11 Aug 2017, 12:58pmFri 11 Aug 2017, 12:58pm The Indian mining giant Adani's Abbot Point coal terminal in Northern Queensland has avoided a multi-million-dollar fine, but has been slugged $12,000 over an environmental breach. Queensland's Environment Department has fined the operators of the facility just over $12,000 for releasing sediment stormwater during Tropical Cyclone Debbie at a level many times higher than allowed. The unauthorised release took place in March, at the same coal loading facility Adani plans to significantly expand as part of its multi-billion-dollar proposed development of Australia's largest coal mine in the nearby Galilee Basin. The Department of Environment and Heritage Protection said the company was granted a temporary emissions licence (TEL) during the rain event, which permitted an elevated suspended solid limit on stormwater releases. But the company advised the department on April 6 it had breached the conditions, advising they had released sediment amounts more than eight times the level it was licenced for. "This stormwater was discharged to the surrounding marine waters," the department said in a statement. "Temporary emissions licences and environmental authorities are not taken lightly by the department and there can be harsh penalties for companies that breach their approvals." The department said the stormwater release did not enter the adjacent Caley Valley wetlands and investigations were continuing. Environment Department director-general Jim Reeves has previously told the ABC fines for non-compliance could be in the millions. "There are serious penalties for corporations whose non-compliance with their environmental authorities or temporary emissions licences causes environmental harm, including fines of up to $3.8 million if the non-compliance was wilful, or $2.7 million if the non-compliance was unintentional," Mr Reeves said. The company has until August 17 to contest the fine in court. In a statement from Adani company Abbot Point Bulk Coal (APB), it said it strongly rejected that "it allowed contaminated floodwater to flow into abutting marine environment during severe Tropic Cyclone Debbie in March 2017". "APB notes the State Government has imposed a fine of $12,190 for the alleged breach and the company is now considering its options. "APB is disappointed that Department of Environment and Heritage Protection has released details of the fine to media but did not detail the fine notices issued to other parties following Cyclone Debbie." The Queensland Resources Council declined to comment. Mackay Conservation Group coordinator Peter McCallum said the fine was inadequate and would encourage future environmental harm at Abbot Point rather than preventative action by the company. Mr McCallum visited Abbot Point with department officials in April to inspect the pollution. "It is hard to see how this fine can act as a deterrent. Adani made over $250 million in revenue at Abbot Point in the last financial year, with this fine representing a miniscule 0.005 per cent," he said. "Without sufficient penalties for breaching environmental conditions there's little point in having them." )

Environment Pollution

1914 Senboku earthquake

The 1914 Senboku earthquake (Japanese: 1914年秋田仙北地震) occurred on March 15, 1914 at 04:59 or 05:00 local time (or March 14 at 20:00 UTC) according to various sources in northern Japan. [1][2][3] The earthquake had a magnitude of Ms 7.0. [1] The epicenter was in Akita Prefecture, Japan. Ninety-four people died and 324 were injured. [4] Senboku District (Japanese: 仙北郡) was seriously affected. The earthquake caused liquefaction. [5] Explosions simultaneous with the earthquake were reported in Mount Asama. [6]

Earthquakes