Day: August 18, 2020

Fires Ravage Brazil’s Pantanal, World’s Largest Wetland

Firefighters in Brazil say strong winds and hot dry weather are making it difficult to battle thousands of blazes burning in the Pantanal, the world’s largest wetland. Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research (INPE) said it spotted more than 3,100 fires in the first two weeks of August — five times as many as the same period last year. “We saw hundreds of fires along the journey throughout the day,” Brazilian Environment Minister Ricardo Salles said Tuesday. “Places where the planes and firemen have fought the fires directly without stopping, but still the fires are causing great damage to fauna, flora and to the Pantanal region.”  The Pantanal is 10 times the size of Florida’s Everglades. The World Wildlife Fund says it is home to more than 4,700 plant and animal species, including some threatened animals. Experts blame the fires, in part, to higher than average temperatures and below average rainfall since mid-July.  

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Mauritius Arrests Captain of Japanese Ship Responsible for Oil Spill

Police on Mauritius have arrested the captain of the Japanese carrier that ran aground off the coast last month, spilling 1,000 metric tonnes of oil and causing possible irreparable damage to coral reefs.Sunil Kumar Nandeshwar, the Indian captain of the MV Wakashio, was charged Tuesday with “endangering safe navigation.” He faces a bail hearing next week.The ship’s first officer was also arrested, and investigators say they are interviewing all crew members.The investigation will center on why the Wakashio went off course. It was supposed to stay at least 16 kilometers from the shore but was about two kilometers away when it ran aground on a coral reef.“The route set five days before the crash was wrong and the boat navigation system should have signaled that to the crew, and it seems the crew ignored it. The boat did also fail to send out an SOS (when it ran aground) and did not respond to attempts by the coast guard to get in touch,” a maritime official told Reuters.The Wakashio became disabled July 25 and started leaking oil almost two weeks later. Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth says bad weather is the reason crews didn’t start pumping oil from the ship almost immediately.About 1,000 metric tonnes leaked into the Indian Ocean surrounding Mauritius and another 3,000 was pumped out before the ship broke in two.The oil spilled into the precious waters of the Mahebourg Lagoon, and environmentalists fear the endangered reefs along the coast may be damaged forever.Half of the ship will be towed out to sea and allowed to sink while the other half will be towed away for scrap – a process officials say is likely to take months.Mauritius has declared an environmental emergency. Experts from Japan, the United Nations and France are working to clean up the oil. Mauritius is a former French colony.The spill is also likely to damage the island’s tourism industry, which is already under strain because of the coronavirus pandemic.

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2 Men Charged in ’02 Killing of Run-DMC Star Jam Master Jay

Nearly two decades after the slaying of Run-DMC star Jam Master Jay, federal prosecutors said Monday they have solved one of New York City’s most enduring mysteries, charging two men from his neighborhood with murder and suggesting that the hip-hop artist — celebrated for his anti-drug stance — was ambushed over a cocaine deal.
The suspects were identified in court papers as Ronald Washington, 56, who is currently serving a federal prison sentence stemming from a string of robberies while on the run from police after Jay’s 2002 death, and Karl Jordan Jr., 36, who is also charged with engaging in a cocaine distribution conspiracy in 2017.
Jason “Jay” Mizell, known professionally as Jam Master Jay, formed Run-DMC with Joseph “Run” Simmons and Darryl “DMC” McDaniel in the early 1980s. Together, they helped take hip-hop mainstream with hits like “It’s Tricky” and the Aerosmith remake collaboration “Walk This Way.”
Jay’s death, following the long unsolved slayings of rappers Tupac Shakur in Las Vegas in 1996 and Christopher “Biggie Smalls” Wallace in Los Angeles in 1997, shook the hip-hop world. Chuck D of Public Enemy compared his death to that of John Lennon. More than $60,000 in rewards was offered, but witnesses refused to come forward and the case languished.
“This is a case about a murder that for nearly two decades had gone unanswered,” Acting U.S. Attorney Seth DuCharme said at a news conference announcing the charges. “Today, we begin to answer that question of who killed Jason Mizell, and why, and we’re confident that we can prove those charges beyond a reasonable doubt.”
Washington, who had reportedly been living on a couch at Jay’s home in the days before the killing, was publicly named as a possible suspect or witness as far back as 2007. Prosecutors allege he waved a handgun and ordered another person at the recording studio to lie on the ground while Jordan shot Jay in the head Oct. 30, 2002.
According to prosecutors, Jay would bring in bulk amounts of cocaine to sell retail and was killed as retribution for cutting Washington out of a plan to distribute 10 kilograms in Maryland.
“They walked in and murdered him in cold blood,” DuCharme said.
A message seeking comment was left with a publicist for Run-DMC. The group performed anti-drug concerts, established scholarships and held voter registration drives at its live shows. In Hollis, the Queens neighborhood where he grew up, Jay was seen as a role model. Friends were puzzled by his death, thinking him an unlikely target for violence.
If convicted, Washington and Jordan each face a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison, or the death penalty. Prosecutors said in court papers that Attorney General William Barr had not yet decided whether to seek the death penalty.
Jordan pleaded not guilty at an arraigned held Monday by teleconference because of coronavirus-related precautions. His lawyer declined comment. Washington, who is imprisoned in Kentucky, will be arraigned later this week, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors have asked that both be jailed pending trial.
The 37-year-old Jay was shot once in the head with a .40-caliber bullet by a masked assailant at his studio in Hollis. Police identified at least four people in the studio with Jay when he was killed, including the two armed gunmen.
At Jay’s funeral, McDaniels remembered his friend and fellow Run-DMC star as “the embodiment of hip-hop.” He was also a husband and a father of three children.
“Jam Master Jay was not a thug,” McDaniels said. “Jam Master Jay was not a gangster. Jam Master Jay was a unique individual.”
Prosecutors, though, now say Jay had been bringing cocaine into the New York area since 1996.
At the time, Jay’s acquaintance with Washington — a repeat offender with convictions dating in 1982 — worried and upset his family.
Before ending up on Jay’s couch, Washington served prison time for grand larceny, assault, criminal use of a firearm, heroin possession and other charges. He was been linked to the 1995 fatal shooting of Randy Walker, a close associate of the late Tupac Shakur.
Afterward, prosecutors said, Washington hopped from motel-to-motel and robbed businesses including supermarkets and a Burger King while detectives pursued him in connection with Jay’s killing. He remained at large for nearly three months until police on Long Island nabbed him for robbing a motel.
Last month, as prosecutors were preparing to seek a grand jury indictment against him for Jay’s death, Washington filed a handwritten petition asking to immediately be released to home confinement, arguing his medical history put him at risk for complications from coronavirus. Federal prosecutors responded by asking for more time to respond, delaying any decision until after Washington was charged.
Jordan, just a teenager when Jay was killed, was declared a juvenile delinquent after a 1999 robbery arrest and had a firearm case dismissed when the complaining witness refused to cooperate with law enforcement. In recent years, prosecutors said, he’s been caught on audio and video surveillance six times selling cocaine to an undercover federal agent.

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Scorching Temperatures in Death Valley May Be Third Hottest on Earth

The World Meteorological Organization says temperatures of 54.4 degrees (Celsius) reported Sunday at Furnace Creek, Death Valley in the U.S. state of California, may be the third hottest on Earth.The U.N. weather agency is assembling an international team of atmospheric scientists to verify the temperatures reported in Death Valley are legitimate. The WMO says that is a very complicated procedure and is likely to take several months to complete.
 
If validated, however, World Meteorological scientists say it would qualify as the third highest temperature ever recorded on the planet. The hottest temperature ever recorded was 56.7 degrees (Celsius) in Death Valley on July 10, 1913. The second hottest was set in July 1931 in Kebili, Tunisia, at 55 degrees (Celsius).
 
The scorching conditions come as sweltering heat grips the west coast of the United States, with temperatures reaching the high 30s and 40s. WMO spokeswoman Clare Nullis says the U.S. National Weather Service expects the intense heat to continue for a while.“The National Weather Service in Las Vegas, which covers the Death Valley area, tweeted overnight, ‘We are in the midst of a long-duration extreme heat event. Another run at 130 degrees Fahrenheit plus temperatures in Death Valley remains possible,’” ,” said Nullis.
 A person walks on a boardwalk at the salt flats at Badwater Basin, Aug. 17, 2020, in Death Valley National Park, California.The WMO says extreme high temperatures are part of a global trend.  It says July was the hottest July on record for the northern hemisphere, and Arctic sea ice was the lowest on record for the month.
 
It says Western and Central Europe experienced another heatwave last week, Japan recorded temperatures of more than 40 degrees (Celsius) Monday at Hamamatsu, and Siberia has experienced a prolonged heatwave.
 
The WMO currently is in the process of verifying the record high temperature of 38 degrees (Celsius) reported June 20 in Siberia. If proven, that would be the highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic Circle.
 
Nullis tells VOA the relationship between climate change and the extreme weather events is inescapable.
 
“We are seeing more intense, extreme heat waves. More frequent. They are starting earlier and finishing later than in the past,” said Nullis. “This is consistent with everything that we expect from climate change. Of all the extreme weather events that we see, the relationship between heat and climate change is the one that we see that is clearest.”
 
Man-made climate change is caused by the emission of greenhouse gases, including carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide and methane into the atmosphere. Scientists agree that drastically cutting greenhouse gas emissions is the key to tackling global warming.
 

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Холопы карлика пукина в шоке: опубликованы имена главных бюджетных кровосис путляндии

Холопы карлика пукина в шоке: опубликованы имена главных бюджетных кровосис путляндии.

Несмотря на плачевную экономическую ситуацию, чиновники из
коррумпированной обоймы обиженного карлика пукина продолжают наращивать аппетит
 

 
 
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Белорусский баланс: шпагат луки перед путляндией будет стоить ему очень дорого…

Белорусский баланс: шпагат луки перед путляндией будет стоить ему очень дорого…

Кровавый лука может и удержаться, но только с помощью обиженного карлика пукина, который за свои услуги потребует независимость…
 

 
 
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Сигнал для карлика-пукина: кровавый лука таки решил сесть на бутылку!

Сигнал для карлика-пукина: кровавый лука таки решил сесть на бутылку!

Лукашенко таки сел на бутылку из-под водки «Столичная» и из него сразу понеслась кремлевская пропаганда о войсках НАТО, о чернокожих военных и далее – по методичке лубянки
 

 
 
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Звільнений білорус про тортури: «74-річному дідусю омонівці зламали 6 пальців і 3 ребра»!

Звільнений білорус про тортури: «74-річному дідусю омонівці зламали 6 пальців і 3 ребра»!

13 серпня Кирила Ашурака звільнили з СІЗО. Три дні до цього він провів у пеклі, каже хлопець. У коментарі Кирило розповів про тортури, яким піддали затриманих протестувальників у Білорусі
 

 
 
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Дегенерат лукашеску призвал обиженного карлика пукина ввести человечков

Дегенерат лукашеску призвал обиженного карлика пукина ввести человечков.

Посол Беларуси в Словакии Игорь Лещеня поддержал протесты на родине. Он стал первым белорусским дипломатом, кто высказался в поддержку протестующих
 

 
 
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Apple Music Launching Shows With Snoop Dogg, Shania Twain

Apple Music is launching several new radio shows hosted by A-list musical acts, including Snoop Dogg, Shania Twain and Carrie Underwood.
The streaming service announced that it will debut two new radio stations Tuesday: Apple Music Hits, focused on popular songs of the ’80s, ’90s and 2000s, as well as Apple Music Country, dedicated to the country music genre. Both channels will have daily on-air hosts but will also include several shows hosted by well-known musicians.
Apple Music Hits will include shows hosted by Snoop Dogg, Twain, Alanis Morissette, Backstreet Boys, Meghan Trainor, Ciara, blink-182’s Mark Hoppus and Huey Lewis.
More than a dozen country acts will debut shows on Apple Music Country, including Underwood, Luke Combs, Florida Georgia Line, Luke Bryan, Rissi Palmer, Morgan Wallen, Kelsea Ballerini, Breland, Dierks Bentley, Jimmie Allen and “This Is Us” actress and singer Chrissy Metz.
Apple Music also announced Tuesday that its popular Beats 1 radio station — featuring shows hosted by Billie Eilish, Elton John and Lil Wayne — will be renamed to Apple Music 1. It will launch new shows hosted by Nile Rodgers, J Balvin, Young M.A and other acts.

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WHO Chief Warns of ‘Vaccine Nationalism’

The World Health Organization’s (WHO) director-general Tuesday issued another warning against “vaccine nationalism,” — countries putting their own interests ahead of others in trying to secure supplies of a possible vaccine.  At the agency’s regular briefing in Geneva, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, “Nationalism exacerbated the pandemic and contributed to the total failure of the global supply chain,” noting shortages of protective gear when the pandemic first hit caused by some nations hoarding resources.The WHO chief said that countries needed to work together to “prevent vaccine nationalism,” so in the event a vaccine or vaccines are developed, those at the highest risk will have equal access.WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus attends a session of the WHO Executive Board held virtually by video-conference, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, May 22, 2020, in this image provided by the World Health Organization in Geneva.Tedros said the world is so interconnected we will need each other more than ever once a vaccine or vaccines are approved for use. As an example, he said “a vaccine developed in one country may need to be filled in vials with stoppers that are produced in another, using materials for the high-grade glass that is only available from yet another country.”Meanwhile, WHO officials warned the world’s young people they are not immune to COVID-19 and their behavior is putting everyone else at risk.WHO epidemiologist Maria Van Kerkhove noted the proportion of younger people among those infected had risen globally in the past month, putting at risk vulnerable sectors of the population worldwide, including the elderly and sick people in densely populated areas with weak health services.Officials in countries from Asia to Europe over the past month have noted “hotspots” in their nations where COVID-19 cases were surging were in night clubs or other areas where young people like to congregate.Kerkhove said that people should not be blamed for wanting to live normal lives but people, especially the young, are not invincible amid the coronavirus pandemic. She urged everyone to consider the risks and the consequences of their actions.More than 21.9 million people have been reported to be infected by the novel coronavirus globally and 772,647 have died, according to a Reuters tally. 

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World Temperature Record Set in California’s Death Valley

One of the hottest air temperatures recorded anywhere on the planet in at least a century, and possibly ever, was reached on Sunday afternoon at Death Valley in California’s Mojave Desert where it soared to 130 Fahrenheit (54.4 Celsius).
An automated observation system run by the U.S. National Weather Service in the valley’s sparsely populated Furnace Creek reported the record at 3:41 p.m. at the crest of an extreme heat wave, a more frequent occurrence because of climate change.
It was a dry heat: Humidity fell to 7%. But it felt “insanely hot” all the same, according to meteorologist Daniel Berc at the weather service’s Las Vegas bureau. A heat wave roasting much of the Western United States would continue all week, he said on Monday.
“It’s literally like being in an oven,” he said in a telephone interview. “Today is another day we could take another run at 130F.”
Tourists on Monday took selfies by an outdoor thermometer at the Death Valley visitor center while avoiding touching metal surfaces with bare skin.
Those who live and work in Furnace Creek, which had a population of 24 in the 2010 census, saw cause for pause in the record.
“We are seeing more records being broken at a daily and monthly level,” said Brandi Stewart, a public information officer for Death Valley National Park who can see the Furnace Creek weather station from her window. “It is significant that we’re seeing more records breaking.”
A temperature of 134F (56.7C) was recorded in Death Valley in July 1913, and Kebili, Tunisia, is said to have hit 131F in July 1931, according to the World Meteorological Organization. But recent research by Christopher Burt, an extreme weather expert, has led some meteorologists to view these older records as the results of observer error.
Climate change has pushed global temperatures to new highs. In Europe, northern Spain broke local heat records in July, while wheat fields in France caught fire.
Forests across Siberian Russia are seeing unprecedented wildfires, while the Arctic sea ice shrank to a record low for July due to melting.
In Furnace Creek, staff and guests at The Oasis hotel were being urged to wear hats and sip water relentlessly while outside, according to general manager John Kukreja.
He tells guests that extreme heat does strange, deceptive things to the body.
“You’re going to sweat and the sweat’s going to dry instantly and you’re never going to know you actually felt hot,” he said. “Your hair stands on end. It’s almost like you feel like you’re cold, like goose bumps.” 

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US Company to Begin Second Phase of Human Trials in South Africa for COVID-19 Vaccine 

A U.S. based vaccine development company is set to begin the second phase of human testing for its COVID-19 vaccine in South Africa, which is in the midst of a surge in coronavirus cases.  Novavax said in a statement that the clinical trials will include 2,665 healthy adults in South Africa. The trials will also compare the vaccine’s effect on 240 medically stable adults with HIV whose immune responses may differ from individuals without HIV. Preliminary findings from the first trial showed people receiving the two doses generated neutralizing antibodies, which can prevent the virus from entering cells, after receiving a second dose of the vaccine.  Along with evaluating the immune response in the phase 2b trial in South Africa, Novavax will also organize a phase 2 trial in the United States and Australia in the near future. In Novavax’s statement, Dr. Gregory Glenn, president of research and development at Novavax said, South Africa’s surge in COVID-19 cases lends importance to the Phase 2b clinical trial, with the potential to provide an early indication of efficacy, along with additional safety and immunogenicity data for the vaccine. South Africa is the fifth most affected country worldwide, with more than 583,000 coronavirus cases and more than 11,600 deaths. Novavax said the trial in South Africa is made possible in part from a $15 million grant from The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations is providing money to manufacture doses of the vaccine needed for the trial.  Last month, the U.S. government awarded Novavax a $1.6 billion contract to cover testing and development of a vaccine for the coronavirus in the United States with the goal of providing 100 million doses by January. 

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NASA Scientists Monitor Changes in ‘Dent’ in Earth’s Magnetic Field

NASA scientists say a small but significant “dent” in Earth’s magnetic field is expanding and splitting and continuing to weaken intensity, which could impact low-orbit satellites circling the globe.According to scientists, Earth’s magnetic field acts like a protective shield, blocking and trapping charged particles — or radiation — from the sun that could otherwise cause harm but are more likely to affect electronic equipment, like satellites.But the “dent,” or weak spot, in the magnetic field over South America, known to scientists as the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), allows radiation to penetrate Earth’s surface. The scientists have observed no ill effects to daily life on the planet. But they have observed the anomaly is moving westward and appears to be splitting.Scientists say Earth is a bit like a bar magnet with north and south poles that represent opposing magnetic polarities and invisible magnetic field lines encircling the planet between them.Earth’s magnetic field is generated from its outer core, 1,800 miles below the surface, comprised of molten iron and other metals that are constantly churning and acting like a giant generator – known as geodynamo — that generates electric currents that produce the magnetic field. Because of the constant motion, the magnetic field is not perfectly aligned throughout the globe, nor is it perfectly stable.Scientists say these fluctuations, along with the tilt of Earth’s magnetic axis, are what causes the SAA. Because of the radiation it allows, the region can be hazardous to satellites that pass through it. They can short-circuit a satellite’s onboard computer or cause other glitches.Scientists will monitor the changes in the SAA because it tells them about changes in the Earth’s core and how its dynamics influence other aspects of Earth’s systems.

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