The discovery of new fast radio burst (FRBs)from an unknown source outside of our galaxy, made by the Canadian Hydrogen Intensity Mapping Experiment Fast Radio Burst (CHIME/FRB) Collaboration, was detailed in a report released in Nature magazine on Wednesday. Although already shrouded in mystery, what makes these FRBs, dubbed FRB 180916.J0158+65, so special is that they are the first to have produced a periodic pattern. FRB 180916.J0158+65βs cyclical pattern stretches over a 16-day period. The pattern begins with a noisy four-day period in which FRBs are emitted from the unknown source. This is followed by a 12-day period of radio silence, before the cycle starts over again. βThis FRB weβre reporting now is like clockwork,βsays Kiyoshi Masui, assistant professor of physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technologyβs Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research.
B&G Foods has retired the black βchefβ mascot who once graced its Cream of Wheat packaging. B&G stated they were βinitiating an immediate review of the Cream of Wheat brand packagingβ because of βconcerns regarding the Chef image.β The brand promised to βproactively take steps to ensure that we and our brands do not inadvertently contribute to systemic racismβ and reminded consumers that they βunequivocally stand against prejudice and injustice of any kind.β Cream of Wheat fans might wonder how the anonymous smiling chef perpetuates systemic racism, but they know better than to voice their doubts out loud. No one, from large corporations to the people who buy their products, wants to be seen as racially insensitive, and the range of behaviors that fall under that heading appears to be expanding rapidly. Aunt Jemima, of pancake syrup fame, is the character based on the offensive βmammyβ racial stereotype; the original model for the character was born a slave in the South. Over the last 70 years, Quaker gradually lightened Jemimaβs skin and made her thinner, finally ditching her βmammyβ bandana entirely for the most recent 1989 reinvention. In short, sheβs been βproblematicβ since day one, even before you get to the ingredients in the products marketed under her name (spoiler alert: Aunt Jemima syrup contains no actual maple syrup, but it does have a lot of high fructose corn syrup).
An internal CIA report about the Vault 7 fiasco paints a damning picture of the main US spy agency. WikiLeaks released the CIAβs hacking tools, likely leaked by an insider, while CIA chiefs were too busy cooking up Russiagate. Vault 7 was the name given to cyber attack tools developed by the CIAβs Center for Cyber Intelligence (CCI), and published by WikiLeaks in March 2017. It was the largest data breach in Langleyβs history, with long-lasting consequences. For example, Chinese cybersecurity companies recently used Vault 7 evidence to show that the US has been hacking China for over a decade. According to a just-released internal CIA report, βCCI had prioritized building cyber weapons at the expense of securing their own systems. Day-to-day security practices had become woefully lax. Most of our sensitive cyber weapons were not compartmented, users shared systems administrator-level passwords, there were no effective removable media controls, and historical data was available to users indefinitely,β the report goes on to say. The heavily-redacted document actually dates back to October 2017 and was only made public Tuesday by Senator Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), in an effort to pressure the new Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe into imposing new security measures. While the CIA ineptitude is the obvious takeaway, no one seems to have noticed the real bombshell: the timing of the breach and its implications.
Sky News is the latest broadcaster in the UK to tell its staff not to tweet about politics in an attempt to portray itself as an impartial outlet. Itβs time UK broadcasting grew up and admitted there is no such thing. Bias is a fact of life, everyone has prejudices about almost every facet of life. Everyone knows this, even children know it, but there seems to be one segment of society that believes it can inoculate itself against bias, British journalists. Many in this profession think they are capable of being completely fair minded. Unlike the rest of society, they think they have found clear objectivity, they just relay facts and leave it up to those watching or reading to make up their minds. The BBC, Sky, ITN and Channel 4 will all plead till the cows come home that they are impartial, even in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary. The latest indication of this is Sky Newsβ new guidelines for staff on social media. Such is the extent to which they believe their staff are capable of displaying impartiality, that they have banned all those who do not work in the politics department from tweeting about politics, completely. This even extends to βlikingβ posts that are βat odds with Sky Newsβ obligations and valuesβ.
As a number of projects planned under government-to-government deals have sparked controversy in Nepal over their transparency, a government committee has recommended that Germanyβs Munich Airport not be appointed as the operator of Gautam Buddha International Airport in Bhairahawa. Located in south-central Nepal, Gautam Buddha International Airport, which will serve as the gateway to the international pilgrimage destination of Lumbini, the birthplace of Gautam Buddha, will be Nepalβs second international airport. βWe have suggested that in view of the controversy in Nepal regarding government to government deals, Gautam Buddha International Airportβs operation should not be handed over to Germanyβs Munich Airport,β said Buddhi Sagar Lamichhane, joint secretary at the Ministry of Tourism. βWe have suggested that the permit should be awarded through an open competition,β said Lamichhane, who led the committee.
Religious Affairs Minister Fachrul Razi announced that Indonesia would prevent haj departures to Saudi Arabia this year, a decision that affected hundreds of thousands of would-be pilgrims in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority nation. Indonesia has the largest haj pilgrim quota of any country. The House of Representatives and lawmakers on Commission VIII overseeing religious affairs criticized him for not consulting with the House before deciding to cancel the 2020 haj pilgrimage over coronavirus concerns. John Kennedy Azis of the Golkar Party, a political party in President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo’s ruling coalition, questioned Fachrul’s sudden announcement of the policy, saying there had been no pressure for the central government to announce it immediately without consulting the legislative body. Indonesia initially planned to send about 221,000 people on the annual pilgrimage, and nearly 180,000 people had already paid for the journey, Religious Affairs Ministry data shows. The government said the pilgrims would be placed on next year’s haj.
Police have arrested a 42-year-old church caretaker from Pancoran Mas district in Depok, West Java, over alleged sexual abuse. Parents had reported βsuspicious behaviorβ of the caretaker, identified only as SPM, said Azas Tigor Nainggolan, the alleged victimsβ attorney. “He often kissed and hugged the boys and put them on his lap. Some parents also claimed that he verbally bullied the kids,” Tigor told The Jakarta Post on Thursday. The parents reported their suspicions to the church pastor, who conducted an internal investigation. Afterward, some 20 boys reportedly came forward and said they had been molested by SPM. “The investigation revealed that SPM has been abusing kids since 2002. All the victims are male, aged 11-15,” Tigor said.
Retired nurse Feridia Rojas, 82, walks past a vintage car as she wears cardboard shaped like a house to protect herself from the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Havana, Cuba, 16 June 2020. The words on the cardboard read: βI am at home. And you?β
A German-Russian space telescope has beamed back a truly breathtaking map of the entire sky as seen through x-rays from the observational post some 1.5 million km from Earth. The eRosita instrument, mounted on the Spektr-RG orbital telescope which was launched in July last year, captured the universe in all its glory, replete with black holes devouring everything in their vicinities, exploding stars, and searing hot gas clouds sprawling across the Milky Way and beyond. The telescope only became operational in December and began scanning the entire sky, sending back the first all-sky data-set just last week for processing. The results were published on Friday. The team used a technique called Aitoff projection, developed by Russian cartographer David A. Aitoff in 1889, to unravel the sphere of the sky onto an ellipse shape.
Japan: As the seasons change, the melting snow has revealed the βHachimantai dragon eyeβ at Kagaminuma swamp near the top of Mount Hachimantai, which borders Iwate and Akita prefectures. Snow remains near the peak of the 1,613-meter-high mountain. The swamp, about 50 meters in diameter, is said to look like a huge βdragon eyeβ when seen from above. When the snow over the center of the swamp melts in a doughnut shape, the dragon eye βopens.β This year the dragon eye opened on June 7.
Bonus Video
News Burst Live Feed – Jun 20, 2020
Crop Circle – Hunt’s Down Nr Wilton Wiltshire – 17/06/2020
Istanbul 17 June 2020
Solar Activity
News Burst Live Feed – Jun 20, 2020
The sun is about to turn into a “ring of fire.” On June 21st, the Moon will pass directly in front of the sun, producing an annular solar eclipse over Earth’s eastern hemisphere. Greatest coverage occurs over the Himalaya of northern India. A partial eclipse will be visible over eastern Africa, the Middle East, India, and most of Asia.
Active Weather
News Burst Live Feed – Jun 20, 2020
Waves of anomalous cold are coloring the majority of the 11.73 million miΒ² African continent βblueβ and βpurpleβ this week, as the Grand Solar Minimum continues its intensification. Latest GFS runs reveal temperature departures some 4C β 10C below the seasonal norm will stretch the length and breadth of Africa today, June 19, from Morocco in the north down to South Africa.
Earthquakes
News Burst Live Feed – Jun 20, 2020
19/6/2020
Europe
M5.1 Crete
North-America
M4.2 Alaska
Central-America
M4.3 Mexico
South-America
M4.4 Argentina
Asia
M5.2 Taiwan
Pacific
M5.6 Fiji
Deepest-EQ
M5.6 535 km Fiji
June 19
The development of the last 24 hours in Europe shows how the seismic push continues to arrive on the M5 in the Eastern Mediterranean and is then, in a certain sense, mitigated and reduced to movements on the M3 further west. An M5.1 shock occurred in the Pliny Trench south of Crete this morning and this time the transfer toward the west and the Atlantic occurred on the coasts of North Africa with a movement on the M3 on the border between Algeria and Tunisia. In Iceland the swarm on the M3 continues, here all the seismic force that has passed through Central Europe regroup.
June 19
Nevada continues to be in motion, in the last 24 hours various movements have occurred, a shock of M4.3 at 10:26 UTC and a shock of M5 at 20:42 UTC. In the image you can see some earthquakes above M5 at the Aleutian Islands, the previous stop of the transfer of the seismic force. The intermediate zone where we could see movements falls at the height of the southern coast of Canada.
June 19
The South West Pacific still shows a series of deep earthquakes with the most powerful shock of M5.6 at 534 km of depth occurred this morning at 10:07 UTC in Fiji. The second movement took place at 17:54 UTC south of Fiji, M4.3 at 502 km. These will certainly put in motion the areas to the west and south, the latter already suffered in recent days. For now, the shocks stop in the Kermadec Islands without reaching New Zealand.
Earthquakes Last 24 Hours β M4 and Above
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The Little Karachi: βWe have intelligence that extreme far-right groups are coming to London, ostensibly they say to protect the statues,β Mr Khan said this morning to BBC Radio 4’s Today Programme (Incredibly this guy is London’s Mayor).
133 days after Twitter “permanently” banned Zero Hedge on January 31, the social network has reinstated the account after admitting it made an error.
Twitter has announced that it has taken down 7,340 accounts linked to an information campaign led by the Turkish government which targeted Kurdish parties and sought support for the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Party). The Turkish campaign reportedly aimed to gather support for the AK Party while targeting Kurdish parties within both Turkey and Syria, particularly in relation to the Turkish armyβs Operation Peace Spring into north-east Syria last October. βDetected in early 2020, this network of accounts was employing coordinated inauthentic activity, which was primarily targeted at domestic audiences within Turkey,β explained Twitter. βBased on our analysis of the networkβs technical indicators and account behaviours, the collection of fake and compromised accounts was being used to amplify political narratives favourable to the AK Party, and demonstrated strong support for President Erdogan. Weβre disclosing 7,340 accounts to the archive today.β
I am truly at a loss for words today. All I have are questions
How does the Seattle mayor and police chief allow their city to be held hostage? How does said mayor swear to an oath and then allow βprotestorsβ to take over a police precinct? How is it not widely known that a donation to Black Lives Matter funnels directly to the Democratic Party? How is Defund The Police even worth a mention? How is it OK that police officers and their families are being threatened on social media in the US? How is it that having a pro-police bumper sticker on your car is grounds to thrash the vehicle? How is it that a thrice-wrong virus βexpertβ is allowed to scare the public and the economy with another dire prediction that probably wonβt be realized?
I have so many questions and unfortunately no answers at this time. Itβs Jabberwocky.
Hertz just won bankruptcy court approval to sell (or at least try) up to $1 billion in worthless stock to maniac daytraders. Not even Enron tried this. Judge Mary Walrath ruled that Hertz can go ahead with the offering and could take in as much as $1 billion. With the company set to receive 3% on the offering, if the bank finds enough Robinhood teenagers to sell the full billion, it will make $30 million from selling worthless garbage to idiots.
Media outlets in the US and UK have been conducting mental gymnastics worthy of Cirque du Soleil to portray rioters as virtuous, non-violent freedom fighters even as they film them starting fires and ripping down statues. You may have noticed the word βpeacefulβ being bandied about on your TV screens and appearing in headlines all over the internet a lot recently. βPeacefulβ is an interesting adjective, because in most cases if something is peaceful, it is self-evident. For example, youβd only have to look at a photograph of a yoga retreat or a calm lake on a warm summerβs day and your brain would instantly think, βpeacefulβ. Likewise, with its opposite βviolentβ; normally if something is violent it is perfectly obvious: baying mobs, cage fighting, Quentin Tarantino movies – theyβre violent and you donβt need to be told they are. Which is why it is rather interesting that βpeacefulβ has crept into the headlines of countless stories about the recent protests following the tragic death of George Floyd. Virtually every news outlet, from CNN to MSNBC to the BBC and Sky News, even the Daily Mail, have insisted that all the demonstrations in his name have been mainly placid, well-mannered affairs. They seem to have forgotten, however, that the cameras are rolling. The first widely memed incident of this sort of coverage was footage from MSNBC. This showed reporter Ali Velshi standing outside a building in Minneapolis that was literally on fire as looting took place all around him, insisting that what was going on was βmostly a protestβ and βwas not generally speaking unrulyβ.
Many goods imported from the EU into Vietnam will enjoy zero percent tax according to the tax reduction roadmap over the next seven to 10 years. Imported cars and spare parts are the most anticipated items. Currently, imported cars from the EU to Vietnam face taxes of 70%. The most expensive are cars imported from Germany, France and Italy. According to commitments, vehicles with engines above 2,500 cc would enjoy a zero tax after nine years while those of less than 2,500 cc would have a zero tax after 10 years. The Ministry of Finance’s Department of International Co-operation said the ministry had built a tax cut plan for cars and other items to submit to the government. It would include regulations, timeframe and process and directives for ministries, departments and local authorities. If the government cut tax by 7-9% each year, the prices of imported cars from the EU would significantly fall. More people would be able to afford imported cars. In another case, if the government cut tax by 15-30% a year in just two or three years, customers could see a huge price drop by VND300m or more in August if the market becomes more diverse and no trade protection measures are applied. The majority of imported cars into Vietnam are Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Volkswagen. Each car costs about VND2bn.
Samoan citizens stuck in New Zealand can now return to Samoa as the first of a series of repatriation flights departed Auckland to Apia today, 29 May. The repatriation flights between the two countries are expected to be operating on a fortnightly basis (once every two weeks) in accordance with the Travel Advice issued by the Government of Samoa. All passengers on the repatriation flights will need to take a CoViD-19 test three days before travel, and carry proof of a negative result. Passengers are also required to hold a medical certificate advising fitness to fly (no symptoms of illness).
An opportunity for some Tongans to return home amid the struggle to keep Tonga free from the novel coronavirus, was announced by the Prime Minister, Hon. Dr Pohiva Tu’i’onetoa, this afternoon 12 June. Fifty Tongans who have been stranded overseas, will be repatriated from New Zealand next week on an Air New Zealand cargo plane. He also said that three days ago, the body of a Tongan who passed away in Fiji had been repatriated by His Majestyβs Armed Forces to Nuku’alofa.
Until recently, the only opportunity that Wataru, a 17-year-old high school student in Japan, had to play a hero was when he immersed himself in online role-playing games. But after the government of Kagawa prefecture on the island of Shikoku moved to limit the amount of time young people could spend playing video games or using the internet, he donned the mantle of crusader for the rights of families to decide for themselves how much gaming is too much. He has enlisted the help of one of the countryβs premier lawyers to sue the government. If everything goes according to plan, he could become one of the very few people in Japan to have won a constitutional challenge to the nationβs laws. βI thought, rather than waiting for someone to take action on my behalf, if I took action for myself, that could have a powerful impact on society,β Wataru, whose last name is being withheld because he is a minor, said during a recent video interview (which used up part of his daily allotment online). In April, Kagawa became the first jurisdiction in Japan to enact regulations intended to address addiction to video gaming by asking parents to set time limits β no more than 60 minutes on school nights and 90 minutes on weekends. The rules apply to anyone under 20 years old, the age of majority in Japan, and while they carry no enforcement mechanism, there is heavy social pressure to follow official suggestions.
A 24-year-old painter turned on her Nintendo DS for the first time in 15 years and, to her surprise, discovered a message she wrote to herself at the age of 9. βDear future Haruka, are you working as a painter? I hope you are. Itβs all right if you are doing something else … but be yourself and try your best, from Haruka,β it read. Haruka is now working mainly as an oil painter based in Sapporo and gives live performances of watercolor and acrylic painting. On June 4, she stopped by her parentsβ home and turned on her Nintendo DS to play “Animal Crossing: Wild World.” She wanted to check how it differed from the latest game in the series, “Animal Crossing: New Horizons,” which she plays on her Nintendo Switch. Then the letter appeared. She did not even remember writing it. For Haruka, who has struggled to make a living as a painter, the letter melted away all her stress and tension. β(Seeing it), I could let my stress go away,β she said. βI felt I could express myself through painting more than ever.β
Some arrests with the ‘Promise land’ operation were carried out in Italy against a criminal group specializing in the lucrative human trafficking activity. The investigations were initiated by the police after the landing of migrants in Sicily on April 7, 2017 by the NGO Sos Mediteranee’s ship Aquarius and “allowed to shed light on numerous cases of trafficking against young Nigerian girls”. They were recruited by a compatriot named Osas, who proposed to undertake the journey to Italy, with the promise of a job. But in Italy the young women had to prostitute themselves to repay what was called the “engagement debt”, which ranged between 25 and 30 thousand euros. The police have identified “Osas” Osazee Obaswon, the Italian contact person. The transnational criminal group connections have been rebuilt, with operational cells in Nigeria, Libya, Italy and other European countries, specialized in the ‘human trafficking’ activity and connections with human traffickers in Libya, in charge of taking care of the final and most dangerous phase of the journey: the crossing by sea from the Libyan coasts to Italy. After their arrival in Italy, the victims were threatened and sorted into different cities.
Driverless Buses have now been made accessible for all passengers in Helsinki starting today, as part of the EU-funded FABULOS project which seeks to bring automated public transport to cities across the continent. The new routes will be in place until the beginning of July. The fully-automated GACHA buses were first rolled out in the Pasila neighborhood, taking passengers between Pasila Station, the Exhibition Centre, and Kellosilta. While the journeys will be fully automated, there will be a qualified driver in attendance to make sure that everything runs safely.The GACHA buses, which were already rolled out in Espoo last year, have a top speed of 30 km/h. It is hoped that, if this trial period is successful, driverless buses could be used to extend public transport services out into less densely-populated areas of the country.
California-based startup Hoversurf had one of its Hoverbikes crash in Dubai this week, and the footage was uploaded to YouTube (now taken down), shows the rider of the bike falling out of the sky. Hoversurf is an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) vehicle that Dubai Police have expressed a lot of interest in adding a fleet of these vehicles. The police department received its first Hoverbikes in 2019 and has started training officers to fly it.
The mayor of Chicago is pleading for retailers not to leave the city. During a recent interview, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she hoped Walmart and other major retailers that had recently been looted or damaged would not abandon the city. This came after a number of stores and businesses were trashed amid the social unrest over the death of George Floyd. Demonstrations were seen not only in Chicago, but nationwide. Mayor Lightfoot went on to say she was confident in a number of businesses returning, but ultimately she said sheβs unsure of one of the biggest ones… Beetle juice @chicagosmayor could have prevented their businesses from been destroyed.
In the wake of nationwide social unrest against law enforcement agencies, spurred mostly by the death of George Floyd (one could also argue that extreme wealth inequality and high unemployment were triggers as well), several major television networks have pulled the plug on any future airings of Cops, reported TV Guide. Last week, A&E Network canceled episodes of Live PD and Cops amid ongoing protests across the country against police brutality following the death of Floyd. Cops was set to debut its 33rd season on Monday (June 8) but was quickly dropped because the network wanted to avoid public backlash, which could’ve led to sponsors pulling ads and viewership boycotts.
Over the past months of COVID-19 lockdowns across nearly all states, and as many counties and cities observed and enforced strict social distancing policies, America has seen a rise in public urination. The reality is that whether walking in downtown urban spaces, or on long distance travel, people are facing a dilemma of either encountering no available public restrooms given businesses and restaurants were closed – or alternately not feeling comfortable enough going into places like gas station given pandemic fears. The New York Post this week describes this rising phenomenon in the city aptly with the title: With no public bathrooms, the Big Apple is now βthe Big Toiletβ.
Late into Wednesday night local time, multiple rockets were fired at the high secured Green Zone in Baghdad, with at least one rocket appearing to score a direct hit on the front of the US Embassy, according to initial reports. Video confirmation of the incident is now circulating on social media and shows a building or possibly multiple buildings on fire at the American embassy compound. Kurdistan 24 journalist Barzan Sadiq uploaded footage of the attack aftermath, which shows fires raging, and described it as the result of Katyusha rocket impact.
A far-right Norwegian man was jailed for 21 years on Thursday for the racially motivated murder of his Chinese-born stepsister and attempting to kill worshippers in a mosque shooting spree. Philip Manshaus expressed strong anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim views before last year’s attack and was unrepentant at trial. Manshaus, now 22 years old, shot and killed Johanne Zhangjia Ihle-Hansen in their family home, later explaining he believed the adopted daughter of his father’s spouse posed a risk to the family because of her Asian origin.
Hundreds of Russian polling station officials, citing the risk of spreading the coronavirus, say they won’t help organize a nationwide vote on reforms that could extend President Vladimir Putin’s rule until 2036. In the July 1 ballot, Russians will vote to approve or reject constitutional reforms including a change that would allow Putin to serve two more six-year terms, if re-elected, instead of stepping down in 2024. But around 350 election officials across the country say taking part is too dangerous at a time when authorities are still reporting thousands of new infections each day despite a drop in cases in the capital Moscow.
Bonus Video
An oil tanker exploded close to the exit of a highway in Wenling, E.Chinaβs Zhejiang Province and the explosion affected surrounding houses and vehicles. Nine fatalities, 112 hurt. News Burst Live Feed – Jun 13, 2020
Solar Activity
Something just exploded on the sun. The debris, a coronal mass ejection (CME), is billowing over the sunβs eastern limb. NASAβs Solar Dynamics Observatory did not record a flare or other eruption on the nearside of the sun, so this is probably a farside event. The CME is expected to miss Earth. News Burst Live Feed – Jun 13, 2020
Active Weather
Tropical Storm NURI 470 km south-southeast of Hong Kong. Wind 35/50 kts 998 hPa Moving NW 12 kts. Nuri is expected to intensify gradually, and will edge closer to the coast of western Guangdong today and tomorrow.
News Burst Live Feed – Jun 13, 2020
Earthquakes
Europe
M3,4 Greece
North
America
M3,8 Alaska
Central
America
M3,6 Puerto Rico
South
America
M4,4 Venezuela
Asia
M4,7 China – Japan
Pacific
M4,7 New Zealand
Deepest
EQ
M4,3 510km Tonga
Strongest
EQ
M 5,8 – SE of South Africa
News Burst Live Feed – Jun 13, 2020
Earthquakes Last 24 Hours β M4 and Above
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A Maya Train station at El Tintal, Mexico added to provide to Isla Holbox connection. The stop at El Tintal will also improve access to the CobΓ‘ archaeological site. Archaeologists believe the Mayan ruins of Coba were an incredibly important city for the Maya people. However, due to its remote location, the site is not as popular with tourists as other ruins in Mexico.
A virtual discussion about human rights issues and the repression against Papuansβ freedom of expression held by rights group Amnesty International Indonesia was bombarded by spammers, in the latest show of disturbance against Indonesian activists recently. The video conference that started at around 1 p.m. was disturbed by unwanted intrusions, ranging from incoming spam calls to some of the speakersβ mobile phones from foreign numbers to βzoombombingβ, a type of cyberattack in which unknown users drop in on Zoom sessions, often uninvited, to disturb meetings. At the beginning, the discussion went smoothly when the first and second speakers, Amnesty International Indonesia executive director Usman Hamid and Norman Voss of German-based International Coalition for Papua (ICP), respectively, explained briefly about human rights issues in the countryβs easternmost region and racism against native Papuans.
Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has announced that ride-hailing ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers are allowed to transport passengers again starting on Monday. The drivers were previously only permitted to transport goods while large-scale social restrictions (PSBB) were in effect in the capital, in accordance with Health Ministerial Regulation implementation guidelines. β[Ride-hailing ojek passenger transportation services] begin operating on June 8, 2020,β the decree stipulates. Drivers, however, are not allowed to operate in 62 out of more than 2,700 community units (RW) across the capital where restrictions will remain in place as a result of their higher rates of COVID-19 infection as the city is set to enforce local-scale social restrictions (PSBL).
The Minister of the Sea, Inland Waters and Fisheries, Augusta MaΓta, will today conduct the central ceremonies of World Oceans Day at the Maputo Fisheries Museum, Mozambique. This year, World Oceans Day is celebrated with the motto βInnovation for the sustainability of the oceans: clean seas, protected ecosystemsβ. Simultaneously, the guardians of Gorongosa National Park, in the central province of Sofala, arrested 22 people who not only illegally fished inside the park, but then transformed their catches in such a way as to poison consumers. To prevent the fish from rotting on long trips, they massaged the insecticides into their catch. The insecticides found in the possession of fishermen included pyrethroid and organophosphate and chloroacetanilde insecticides (which should be used as a herbicide rather than as an insecticide). Gorongosa Park administrator Pedro Muagura told fishermen to find some other form of livelihood as they are endangering public health and helping to destroy the environment.
Snow is set to fall across South Africa this week. The SA Weather Service (Saws) state that Northern, Western and Eastern Cape provinces are forecast to receive between 1 β 10cm of snow between now and Thursday: βAn intense cold front is expected over the western parts of the Northern and Western Cape from Wednesday. The public and small stock farmers are advised that snow, strong to gale-force winds, flooding, rough seas and very cold conditions can be expected.β βSnow is expected on the high ground of the Western Cape and southern high ground of the Northern Cape from Wednesday evening, spreading to the Eastern Cape high ground on Thursday.β
βIf you want to have long life, eat healthy food, stay away from alcohol, do a lot of physical work and have only one partner.β These are the words of 87-year-old Khaukanani Obed Lukhwa of Mukula village outside Thohoyandou in Limpopo (SA) who describes himself as a βyoung boyβ. His age does not stop him from doing what he enjoys most β farming. βI wake up at 4:00 every day and walk to my nearby farm. I then walk back home at 10:00 to have some breakfast and go back to the farm again. At 13:00, I go back home for lunch and return to the farm at 14:00 until I knock off at 17:00. I donβt even use a walking stick because Iβm still very strong on my own.β
Nearly 10 cases of child abuse a day are reported in Pakistan, with girls affected the most, according to Sahil, a child protection organisation. Zohara Shah, an 8 year old girl, kept as a domestic worker, and beaten to death after freeing birds from a cage. She originally from Muzaffargarh, another city in the province of Punjab, was brought to Rawalpindi four months ago to look after the child of a man who worked in buying and selling birds and property. Her alleged physical abuse came to light after her employer brought her to a local hospital and then left her there. The hospital staff later called the police, it was reported. Shah was hired by the man after he asked one of his friends to find a child domestic worker to look after his own child. The couple who had employed the victim confessed to beating her. Pakistanβs first national child abuse law will introduce a penalty of life imprisonment for child abuse, said Pakistanβs Human Rights Minister Shireen Mazari.
Solar Activity
New-cycle sunspot AR2765 is crackling with B-class solar flares. NASAβs Solar Dynamics Observatory captured the latest explosion (category B6.4) on June 7th at 21:48 UT
B-class solar flares are considered to be relatively minor. B-flares can hurl CMEs toward Earth and spark auroras. Probably not this time, though. Initial movies of the explosion suggest that no debris is heading our way. News Burst 9 June 2020 β Live Feed
B-Class Solar Flares
News Burst 9 June 2020
Active Weather
Tropical Storm Cristobal 21 UTC June 8 2020 News Burst 9 June 2020 β Live Feed
Earthquakes
Albania is receiving much of the sismic wave with an M4.6 shock with swarm. Movements on the M3 for the Ionian Islands in Greece.
Twin M4s in Nevada and California, quite shallow. News Burst 9 June 2020 β Live Feed
Strongest EQ in Europe M4.6 Albania Strongest EQ in North America M4.8 Nevada Strongest EQ on the Planet M5.0 Indonesia Deepest EQ M4.9 527 km Fiji
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Ethiopia finalized groundworks to plant 5 billion trees during its rainy season that extends from June to September, setting World Environment Day as the day on which to flag-off a programme to combat desertification and make the nation greener. This yearβs initiative echoes a similar one last year called for by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who asked his countrymen to plant 200 million acacia seedlings in a single day, shattering the world record. Abiy, who is the 2019 Peace-prize Nobel Laureate, is determined to push forward with his βGreen Legacyβ campaign to promote ecotourism and transform Ethiopia into an environmentally friendly economy.
Seven new cases of wildlife crime were registered during the last week of May, the weekly wildlife crime report reveals. The Namibian Police, detailed that the seven cases saw the arrest of 16 suspects. All those apprehended are Namibian nationals. Among the wildlife products seized were six rhino horns, two elephant tusks, two giraffe carcasses, two firearms, two vehicles and 17 rounds of ammunition. Among the group of suspects listed in this report was preacher Jackson Babi, who was arrested last week after two rhino horns were allegedly found at his house in Windhoekβs Kleine Kuppe neighbourhood.
A quarter of Americans have skipped meals or relied on charity or government food programs since February, according to Kaiser Family Foundationβs May Tracking Poll survey of over 1,100 US adults (conducted between May 13-18). βOne in four Americans (26%) say they or a member of their household have skipped meals or relied on charity or government food programs since February, including 14% who say they have reduced the size of meals or skipped meals because there wasnβt enough money for food, 13% who have visited a food bank or pantry for meals, and 13% who have applied for or received SNAP benefits,β the survey said.
A team of scientists headed by Shivani Bhandari, an astronomer with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO), Australiaβs federal agency responsible for scientific research, has made a breakthrough discovery by pinpointing the precise location of four fast radio bursts (FRBs). FRBs are very mysterious bursts of radio waves coming from somewhere in the universe. The average pulse ranges for a few milliseconds, caused by high-energy sources, which are not entirely understood. Bhandariβs new research reveals that four FRBs came from massive galaxies forming new stars. They said FRBs originated not from the center of galaxies, but rather from the outer edges.
Nine fishermenβs associations made up of 123 fishers at a fishery on Buru Island, Maluku, in Indonesia, have been certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) with the ecolabel, which indicates that the associationsβ catch meet the international best practices for sustainable fishing. With the award, they become the first handline yellowfin tuna fishery in the world, and the second recipient in Indonesia, to be certified with the MSC standard. βWeβre extremely proud seeing the first Indonesian handline yellowfin tuna fishery meet the highest standard for sustainability. This MSC certification sets an example for other small-scale fisheries in Indonesia and around the world,β Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Minister Edhy Prabowo.
Solar Activity
New sunspots on the southern solar hemisphere have raised the alert for solar flares. Solar wind is quiet. News Burst 8 June 2020 β Live Feed
Active Weather
Tropical Storm Cristobal New Orleans, Louisiana w/v 45-55 kts 994 hPa Moving N 10 kts β Weakening. News Burst 8 June 2020 β Live Feed
Earthquakes
This image shows the push from Asia to the Middle East and then Europe in the past 48 hours, both from the HinduKush area and the Gulf of Aden. Eastern Turkey together with the Island of Crete and the Ionian Islands, both in Greece, the areas where greater seismic force is released. Italy and part of the Balkan Peninsula have been circumvented by the previous wave that reached the Atlantic, but could see movements up to the high M3 with the new wave, North Africa could make some difference. The area from Cyprus, Syria and Israel could also see a movement on the M3-4. News Burst 8 June 2020 β Live Feed
Strongest EQ in Europe M4.4 Greece Strongest EQ in North America M3.8 Nevada Strongest EQ on the Planet M5.9 Papua New Guinea Deepest EQ M4.2 150 km Indonesia
In this image of June 8 at 7 UTC we see how the seismic wave manifested itself in the Middle East and in the Eastern Mediterranean, an M4 movement in Iran at the border with Turkey and the expected movement on the M3 in Cyprus. It is possible that we could see a movement of high M3 in the Central Aegean sea. In Italy only M2 in the bootβs center, previously silent area. The area from Bosnia to Slovenia remains silent, here we could see a movement on the M3 after the probable one of the Aegean.
For now, #Cristobal in the Gulf of Mexico does not seem able to attract cold air from the north and collide it with hot air from Yucatan, it does not seem able to become a Cyclone… we will see. #NewsBurstLiveTwitter feed video.
Facebookβs decision to βwarnβ users about state-controlled media is an outdated propaganda trick, say international observers, asking whether US news outlets are independent and from whom. Facebook has announced that it will start labelling Russia Today, Sputnik, Iranβs Press TV, Chinaβs Xinhua News and other government-funded news outlets as βstate mediaβ and will block any ads from them that target US users later this summer. Facebookβs new rules do not, however, apply to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), whose board is largely appointed by the commonwealthβs monarch, as well as any media outlets in the US β irrespective of their funding β since the social media platform sees the editorial policies of the above mentioned media outlets as βindependentβ. Facebookβs decision is βprimarily as a propaganda exerciseβ, says British political analyst Marcus Godwyn, adding that one of the goals of the tech giantβs initiative is to evoke memories of the 20th century Cold War era. In those times, βstate-controlledβ societies were portrayed in Western countries as antagonists of βfree democraciesβ, so the use of the word βstateβ by Facebook can be seen as a smear tactic and a propaganda trick, he suggests.
Research firm Inchcape Shipping Services is reporting that the path to recovery for world trade will not resemble a classic βVβ and be much slower than previously thought. Inchcapeβs chief commercial officer Christopher Crookall said: βThereβs going to be a much slower recovery than has previously been envisaged because demand wonβt rebound instantly,β said Crookall. Crookall said the supply-side story in Asia has yet to be revived because the demand story in Europe and North America is offline. Without Western demand, reviving Asian factories will not be possible; thus, world trade wonβt rebound.
India: The Himachal Pradesh Police Saturday arrested a person in connection with the injury to a pregnant cow, which ate wheat flour mixed with explosive substances near a farm field in Bilaspur district late last month. The incident triggered an outrage on social media Saturday after a video posted by the owner of the cow, which showed the injured animal, went viral. A similar incident in Kerala which recently led to the death of a pregnant elephant has been widely condemned across the nation. βThe cow is believed to have strayed towards the neighbourβs fields in an area covered with bushes and shrubs, where someone had placed some wheat flour mixed with explosive substances,β said an official. The cow consumed the mixture, leading to an explosion, which caused severe injuries to her jaw and other parts of the mouth.
Facebookβs $550 million settlement agreement over alleged biometric data privacy violations is in doubt, after a federal judge refused to sign off on the deal, Courthouse News Service reports. The three consolidated class actions alleging Facebookβs biometric photo-tagging feature violates Illinoisβ Biometric Information Privacy Act (BIPA) were tentatively settled early this year, but U.S. District Court Judge James Donato immediately questioned its adequacy. βThe Illinois Legislature said this is meant to be an expensive violation,β U.S. District Judge James Donato told litigants in a preliminary settlement approval hearing. While maximum damages of $5,000 are only allowable in cases of intentional or reckless BIPA violations, Donato notes that the $5 billion fine levied by the FTC last year related to deceptive practices around privacy could support the argument that intentional and reckless is precisely the nature of Facebookβs actions, as they may constitute a violation of the FTC consent decree.
Monsignor Alberto Perlasca, head of investment for the Vatican Secretariat of State,and Fabrizio Tirabassi, heads of the administrative office of the Vatican Secretariat of State, are being investigated by embezzlement in competition with Gian Luigi Torzi and Raffaele Mincione in relation to the investment of 454 million euros deriving β according to Vatican investigators β from the donations of the βObolo di San Pietro, in the availability of the Secretariat of State and owned by the latter with the aim of supporting the activities for religious and charitable purposes. The statement said the warrant was signed by the Promoter of Justice, Professor Gian Piero Milano, and βwas issued in relation to the well-known events connected with the sale of the London property on Sloane Avenue [No 60], which involved a network of companies in which some officials of the Secretariat of State were present.β Gian Luigi Torzi is detained in special premises at the Gendarmerie Corps Barracks. Torzi is being charged by Vatican prosecutors with several counts of βextortion, embezzlement, aggravated fraud and money laundering,β the Holy See said, noting that the crimes Vatican Law provides for sentences of up to twelve years imprisonment for such crimes. [Why does the Vatican use the money destined for the poor for real estate speculation?]
Finlandβs Minister Of Finance Katri Kulmuni resigned from her post on Friday evening as a result of widespread outrage over the revelation that she spent close to β¬50,000 of taxpayer money on speech training lessons from a private consultancy firm. In addition to the money spent from the public purse on Kulmuniβs private lessons, there have also been concerns over the content of the lessons. Kulmuni apologized for rehearsing a party conference speech with the consultants, which she acknowledged had little to do with her ministerial duties that were being covered by the taxpayer. Kulmuni has said that she plans to repay the full amount out of her own money. Typically, services such as speech training are paid for by the political party, or by the politician themself. PM Sanna Marin acknowledged that she had received Kumuniβs resignation and thanked her for her service. She also emphasized that the decision does not in any way impact ongoing cooperation with the Centre Party, of which Kulmuni remains the leader of.
The Chinese Embassy in Cambodia announced on its Facebook page on Thursday that Chinese and Cambodian officials are scheduled to sign an agreement on June 9 permitting the Kingdom to export 500,000 tonnes of mangoes per year to China. The meeting will be held at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Mangoes will become the second agricultural product given the green light for export to China after yellow bananas were approved in April of last year. The opening of the Chinese market is expected to further promote the development of agricultural products in Cambodia, and insiders said receiving large import orders from China will be a great boon for the Kingdomβs economy.
The U.S. military says it has launched its first air strikes against the Taliban since a cease-fire declared by the militants and Afghan forces last month. The two sets of air strikes took place on June 4-5 in two different Afghan provinces, military spokesman Colonel Sonny Leggett said. Elsewhere, 10 Afghan security forces members were reported killed on June 5 in an attack blamed on the Taliban.The militant group announced a three-day cease-fire with Afghan forces that ended on May 26 to mark the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr. There has since been an overall drop in violence across the country, with Kabul saying it is ready to start long-delayed peace negotiations with the insurgents. Washington signed a deal with the Taliban in February, in which it pledged to withdraw all U.S. troops in return for security guarantees in a bid to pave the way for talks between warring Afghan sides. Leggett said in a tweet that a U.S. air strike was carried out against 25 armed Taliban fighters βexecuting a coordinated attackβ on an Afghan force checkpoint in the western province of Farah. Another strike was conducted on an unknown number of Taliban fighters attacking a checkpoint in the southern Kandahar Province, the spokesman said.
India and China agreed on Friday to resolve a dispute over their shared border in the Ladakh region through diplomatic channels, the Indian foreign affairs ministry said in a statement. The statement came a day before top generals of the two countries are due to meet near the site of their border standoff to try and find a way to de-escalate the situation. Indian officials said both sides would first focus on getting both the Indian army and the Peopleβs Liberation Army to pull back additional troops and equipment deployed in the area.
Sun Activity
This weekend, the biggest sunspot of new Solar Cycle 25 (so far) is turning toward Earth. We know AR2567 is a member of Solar Cycle 25 because of its magnetic polarity. According to Haleβs Law, sunspots switch polarities from one solar cycle to the next. The sun is still in the pits of a century-class Solar Minimum. The appearance of AR2567 suggests that it wonβt last forever. Solar Cycle 25 has been showing signs of life all year long, with 82% of all sunspots in 2020 having the magnetic polarity of the new cycle. Whatβs next? Solar flares?
Active Weather
Tropical Storm Cristobal β Gentral Gulf of Mexico wind 40/50 kts 997 hPa moving N 12 kts weakening.
Strongest EQ in Europe M4.4 Norway Strongest EQ in North America M4.1 Nevada Strongest EQ on the Planet M5.7 Fiji Deepest EQ M5.0 576 km Tonga News Burst 7 June 2020
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