News Burst 15 January 2020 ~ January 15, 2020

News Burst 15 January 2020

• According to Area 1, the Silicon Valley security firm that allegedly detected the hacking, Russian hackers from a military intelligence unit known formerly as the G.R.U., and to private researchers by the alias “Fancy Bear,” used so-called phishing emails that appear designed to steal usernames and passwords, to gain access to Burisma’s network. Burisma is the Ukrainian energy firm that VP Biden’s son was paid $50,000 per month as a board member.
• Nicola Sturgeon, First Minister of Scotland and leader of the Scottish National Party wrote to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson to request a second independence referendum. Boris Johnson wrote back refusing her request.
• Reacting swiftly to developments within the British royal family, several companies are looking to sell their merchandise while poking fun at the Duke and Duchess of Sussex. Mere hours after the Duke and Duchess of Sussex announced their plans, Ikea Italy posted an advert for cardboard moving boxes on Instagram which said: “Meghan, Harry. We understand you, we are made to change”.
• Taal volcano in the Philippines could spew lava and ash for weeks, authorities warned, leaving thousands in limbo after they fled their homes fearing a massive eruption. The crater of the volcano exploded to life with towering clouds of ash and jets of red-hot lava on Sunday, forcing those living around the mountain south of Manila to flee to safety.
• Six people died, 15 were injured and another 10 remain missing after a large sinkhole swallowed a bus carrying pedestrians in northwestern China on Monday afternoon, according to China’s Xinhua News Agency.

• India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed pleas for a review of the death sentence handed down to four men in the rape and murder of a young woman on a New Delhi bus, leaving an appeal to the president as their only possible recourse. The 2012 attack on the 23-year old physiotherapy student on the moving bus shocked India and led to tough new laws against sexual violence, including the death penalty for rape in some cases. Last week, a Delhi court said they would be hanged on Jan 22.
• A Delta flight from Los Angeles International Airport to Shanghai made an emergency U-turn on Tuesday, dumping fuel on approximately 30 schoolchildren as it returned to LAX. Students at Park Avenue Elementary School were exposed to an unknown type of fuel [kerosene], and were evaluated by paramedics on scene.
• Putin playfully urges Syria’s Assad to host Trump visit while touring biblical site.
• A huge fire broke out at a chemical plant in Tarragona, Spain following an explosion at the site. One person is reported dead and another six injured. The blast was reported at around 6:40pm local time on Tuesday in the Catalonian port city which attracts tourists with its numerous Roman-era ruins.
• Ukraine’s Supreme Anti-Corruption Court has obliged the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) to launch a probe into seizure of government power and corruption suspicions. The cases mention the names of the United States’ 44th president, Barack Obama, former Ukrainian president, Pyotr Poroshenko and ex-US vice-president, Joseph Biden, a member of the Ukrainian parliament from the Opposition Platform – For Life party, Renat Kuzmin, said on Tuesday.

• Amazon’s founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos arrived in India Tuesday and was welcomed with a new antitrust case. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) on Monday ordered an investigation into alleged malpractices by Flipkart and Amazon India as far as the issue of deep discounting and practice of preferred sellers of mobile phones by both the retailers was concerned.

Active Weather

• Tropical Cyclone Claudia – 50-70 kts↓ 989 hPa↑- W of Australia Moving W 11 kts

Strongest EQ in Europe M3.4 Greece
Strongest EQ in US M3.7 Alaska
Strongest EQ on the Planet M5.1 Argentina
Deepest EQ M4.2 256 km Argentina News Burst 15 January 2020