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Unimaginable scenes as Baltimore bridge collapses

The tranquil waters of Baltimore's Patapsco River turned tumultuous in the early hours of Tuesday following a catastrophic event that shook the city to its core. The aftermath of the Francis Scott Key Bridge collapse has left a community reeling, with one confirmed fatality and six individuals still missing as rescue efforts persist amid harrowing conditions. The calamity unfolded when a mammoth container ship lost power, careening into the Francis Scott Key Bridge on the US East Coast. The impact tore through the bridge's supports, sending vehicles and people plummeting into the frigid river below. In the chaos that ensued, heroes emerged as authorities swiftly responded, managing to halt traffic on the bridge, averting further catastrophe. However, the toll was already significant, with one individual confirmed dead and six others, believed to be part of a construction crew, still unaccounted for. As the day wore on, Baltimore City Fire Department Chief James Wallace provided updates on the situation, indicating that one survivor had been rescued and rushed to a local trauma centre in critical condition. Meanwhile, the US Coast Guard initiated a relentless search for the missing individuals, leveraging sonar technology to scour the depths of the river. The vessel responsible for the devastation, known as the Dali, was under the management of Synergy Marine Group, navigating under the Singapore flag. Although the crew and pilots were reported safe, the repercussions of the collision have reverberated far beyond the immediate vicinity. US President Joe Biden has pledged federal support for the reconstruction efforts: "This is going to take some time," he said. "The people of Baltimore can count on us, though, to stick with them at every step of the way until the port is reopened and the bridge is rebuilt." The collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge not only claimed lives but also severed a vital link in the region's infrastructure. The Port of Baltimore, a bustling gateway for maritime commerce, now faces significant disruption, with vessel traffic suspended indefinitely. The reverberations of this tragedy extend beyond Baltimore, with logistical challenges expected to ripple along the entire East Coast. As the day progressed, stories of resilience and compassion emerged. Retired Chief Donald Heinbuch, startled from his sleep by the rumbling impact, bore witness to the unimaginable destruction. "Never would you think that you would see physically see the Key Bridge tumble down like that - it looked like something out of an action movie," he said. "And you just think about, most importantly, which is what we all should be thinking about right now, nothing but those families and people that are impacted and those people who are risking their lives right now, for not just Baltimore City and Baltimore County but all over the state, to try to save lives. That should be our focus - the preservation of life. Because no one wants to see that happen, let alone someone in their family someone that they know, be injured in an incident like this." Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott echoed the sentiments of a community in shock, emphasising the paramount importance of preserving life above all else. Images: Streamlive | 9News

Caring

Devastating leaked email places Jenny Craig on brink of collapse

Weight loss firm Jenny Craig is reportedly closing its doors after four decades leading the industry. According to leaked staff communications, NBC News have shared that the company’s corporate and salaried field employees will face their final day of work on May 5, while their hourly staff will experience theirs on May 9. In the email, Jenny Craig explained that this was occurring “due to its inability to secure additional financing”. Employees were informed, however, that they would be receiving a “final pay cheque, including your full compensation earned through your last day of work and all accrued, unused paid time off”. Rumours have circled the company for some time, with Bloomberg reporting in just April 2023 that they were on the hunt for a buyer. The publication claimed that a source told them the company was “considering a bankruptcy filing” if their efforts to secure a buyer failed. Bloomberg also shared the news that the company was in around $250,000 USD in debt (~$376,000 AUD/NZD). Around the same time, corporate staff at the company’s California office received notice that they would be closing June 24, but that that day may actually be as soon as the next Friday. An FAQ was also released to them, alongside an explanation that they would be decreasing their physical operations to make way for their more e-commerce focussed business model. As a spokesperson told NBC News in the wake of the reports of potential layoffs, the company was “embarking on the next phase of our business to evolve with the changing landscape of today’s consumers. “Like many other companies, we’re currently transitioning from a brick-and-mortar retail business to a customer-friendly, e-commerce driven model. We will have more details to share in the coming weeks as our plans are solidified.” Despite this assurance, even coupled with the latest communications, it remains unclear whether or not that transition will still be taking place, with employees left in a state of limbo. The industry supergiant currently employs over 1,000 members of staff, with approximately 500 stores - both company-owned and franchised - across just the United States and Canada, with a further 600 around the rest of the world, including Australia. The company was actually founded in Melbourne in 1983, by husband and wife Jenny and Sidney Craig. The American couple went on to take their venture back to the states, but not until two years later in 1985. And while the situation looks dire overseas, an employee did tell Bloomberg that franchise-owned locations “may remain open”, though this is yet to be confirmed. Images: Getty

Body

Former beauty queen collapses and dies at just 25

Former beauty queen Jessica Whalley has been named as the woman who died at ex-English soccer star Michael Owen’s stables. The 25-year-old worked at Manor House Stables in Cheshire, northwestern England, as a transport manager. Reportedly, Jessica felt ill at around 8:50am, and emergency services raced to attend to her in the racing yard, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. Police have stated that the tragic incident is not being treated as suspicious, explaining with their own statement that “at around 8.50am today, police were made aware that a 25-year-old woman had collapsed at a stables on Old Coach Road, Malpas. "Emergency services attended the location and, despite the best efforts of all those involved, the woman sadly died at the scene. "The death is not being treated as suspicious and her next of kin have been informed. A file will be prepared for the coroner." Michael Owen is said by The Sun to have been emotional in the wake of the loss, with one woman sharing on Facebook that it was “so sad seeing him and all his staff in tears today … after such a shock to them … [at] such a young age. "No health problems[,] 25 is no age ... life really is too short for we never really know how long we have ... thoughts go out to her family and friends." The National Association of Racing Staff CEO George McGrath had kind words for the late Jessica as well when he explained that she “was a much loved and respected member of the racing community and taken from us at much too early in age." Manor Farm Stables later released a statement, and tribute to their “valued member”, writing that “it is with deep sadness that we have to announce that a much-valued member of our team died at work this morning. "The family have been informed and both the family and the team at Manor House request privacy at this time." Jessica - or ‘Jess’ to her friends - has been remembered as a hard worker, a respected member of the racing community, and a “much loved” friend. But her professional history isn’t limited to the stables, as the young woman once found passion in the beauty circuit. In 2019, Jessica had the honour of representing the United Kingdom in the Miss Tourism Universe pageant, an event that took place in Beirut and aired on MTV. And in the competition, Jessica made it to the final ten. And it was one of Jess’s friends who shared the final picture ever taken of Jessica, taken a mere three days before, writing alongside the picture that it was “heartbreaking to hear Jess lost her life today at the tender age of 25. “She was riding out doing what she loved. We had so many great times working in Dubai. “May she rest in peace.” Images: Facebook

News

ChatGPT, DALL-E 2 and the collapse of the creative process

In 2022, OpenAI – one of the world’s leading artificial intelligence research laboratories – released the text generator <a href="https://chat.openai.com/chat">ChatGPT</a> and the image generator <a href="https://openai.com/dall-e-2/">DALL-E 2</a>. While both programs represent monumental leaps in natural language processing and image generation, they’ve also been met with apprehension. Some critics have <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2022/12/chatgpt-ai-writing-college-student-essays/672371/">eulogized the college essay</a>, while others have even <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/02/technology/ai-artificial-intelligence-artists.html">proclaimed the death of art</a>. But to what extent does this technology really interfere with creativity? After all, for the technology to generate an image or essay, a human still has to describe the task to be completed. The better that description – the more accurate, the more detailed – the better the results. After a result is generated, some further human tweaking and feedback may be needed – touching up the art, editing the text or asking the technology to create a new draft in response to revised specifications. Even the DALL-E 2 art piece that recently won first prize in the Colorado State Fair’s digital arts competition <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/artificial-intelligence-art-wins-colorado-state-fair-180980703/">required a great deal of human “help”</a> – approximately 80 hours’ worth of tweaking and refining the descriptive task needed to produce the desired result. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> Today's moody <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/AIart?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#AIart</a> style is... 🖤 deep blacks ↘️ angular light 🧼 clean lines 🌅 long shadows More in thread, full prompts in [ALT] text! <a href="https://t.co/tUV0ZfQyYb">pic.twitter.com/tUV0ZfQyYb</a> — Guy Parsons (@GuyP) <a href="https://twitter.com/GuyP/status/1612539185214234624?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">January 9, 2023</a></blockquote> It could be argued that by being freed from the tedious execution of our ideas – by focusing on just having ideas and describing them well to a machine – people can let the technology do the dirty work and can spend more time inventing. But in our work as philosophers at <a href="https://www.umb.edu/ethics">the Applied Ethics Center at University of Massachusetts Boston</a>, we have written about <a href="https://doi.org/10.1515/mopp-2021-0026">the effects of AI on our everyday decision-making</a>, <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429470325-28/owning-future-work-alec-stubbs">the future of work</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-022-00245-6">worker attitudes toward automation</a>. Leaving aside the very real ramifications of <a href="https://www.latimes.com/opinion/story/2022-12-21/artificial-intelligence-artists-stability-ai-digital-images">robots displacing artists who are already underpaid</a>, we believe that AI art devalues the act of artistic creation for both the artist and the public. <h2>Skill and practice become superfluous</h2> In our view, the desire to close the gap between ideation and execution is a chimera: There’s no separating ideas and execution. It is the work of making something real and working through its details that carries value, not simply that moment of imagining it. Artistic works are lauded not merely for the finished product, but for the struggle, the playful interaction and the skillful engagement with the artistic task, all of which carry the artist from the moment of inception to the end result. The focus on the idea and the framing of the artistic task amounts to <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-paul-mccartneys-the-lyrics-can-teach-us-about-harnessing-our-creativity-170987">the fetishization of the creative moment</a>. Novelists write and rewrite the chapters of their manuscripts. Comedians “write on stage” in response to the laughs and groans of their audience. Musicians tweak their work in response to a discordant melody as they compose a piece. In fact, the process of execution is a gift, allowing artists to become fully immersed in a task and a practice. It allows them to enter <a href="https://www.harpercollins.com/products/flow-mihaly-csikszentmihalyi?variant=32118048686114">what some psychologists call the “flow” state</a>, where they are wholly attuned to something that they are doing, unaware of the passage of time and momentarily freed from the boredom or anxieties of everyday life. This playful state is something that would be a shame to miss out on. <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p073182">Play tends to be understood as an autotelic activity</a> – a term derived from the Greek words auto, meaning “self,” and telos meaning “goal” or “end.” As an autotelic activity, play is done for itself – it is self-contained and requires no external validation. For the artist, the process of artistic creation is an integral part, maybe even the greatest part, of their vocation. But there is no flow state, no playfulness, without engaging in skill and practice. And the point of ChatGPT and DALL-E is to make this stage superfluous. <h2>A cheapened experience for the viewer</h2> But what about the perspective of those experiencing the art? Does it really matter how the art is produced if the finished product elicits delight? We think that it does matter, particularly because the process of creation adds to the value of art for the people experiencing it as much as it does for the artists themselves. Part of the experience of art is knowing that human effort and labor has gone into the work. Flow states and playfulness notwithstanding, art is the result of skillful and rigorous expression of human capabilities. Recall <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rUOlnvGpcbs">the famous scene</a> from the 1997 film “<a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119177/">Gattaca</a>,” in which a pianist plays a haunting piece. At the conclusion of his performance, he throws his gloves into the admiring audience, which sees that the pianist has 12 fingers. They now understand that he was genetically engineered to play the transcendent piece they just heard – and that he could not play it with the 10 fingers of a mere mortal. Does that realization retroactively change the experience of listening? Does it take away any of the awe? <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/04/the-case-against-perfection/302927/">As the philosopher Michael Sandel notes</a>: Part of what gives art and athletic achievement its power is the process of witnessing natural gifts playing out. People enjoy and celebrate this talent because, in a fundamental way, it represents the paragon of human achievement – the amalgam of talent and work, human gifts and human sweat. <h2>Is it all doom and gloom?</h2> Might ChatGPT and DALL-E be worth keeping around? Perhaps. These technologies could serve as catalysts for creativity. It’s possible that the link between ideation and execution can be sustained if these AI applications are simply viewed as mechanisms for creative imagining – <a href="https://openai.com/blog/dall-e-2-extending-creativity/">what OpenAI calls</a> “extending creativity.” They can generate stimuli that allow artists to engage in more imaginative thinking about their own process of conceiving an art piece. Put differently, if ChatGPT and DALL-E are the end results of the artistic process, something meaningful will be lost. But if they are merely tools for fomenting creative thinking, this might be less of a concern. For example, a game designer could ask DALL-E to provide some images about what a Renaissance town with a steampunk twist might look like. A writer might ask about descriptors that capture how a restrained, shy person expresses surprise. Both creators could then incorporate these suggestions into their work. But in order for what they are doing to still count as art – in order for it to feel like art to the artists and to those taking in what they have made – the artists would still have to do the bulk of the artistic work themselves. Art requires makers to keep making. <h2>The warped incentives of the internet</h2> Even if AI systems are used as catalysts for creative imaging, we believe that people should be skeptical of what these systems are drawing from. It’s important to pay close attention to the incentives that underpin and reward artistic creation, particularly online. Consider the generation of AI art. These works draw on images and video that <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/12/when-ai-can-make-art-what-does-it-mean-for-creativity-dall-e-midjourney">already exist</a> online. But the AI is not sophisticated enough – nor is it incentivized – to consider whether works evoke a sense of wonder, sadness, anxiety and so on. They are not capable of factoring in aesthetic considerations of novelty and cross-cultural influence. Rather, training ChatGPT and DALL-E on preexisting measurements of artistic success online will tend to replicate the dominant incentives of the internet’s largest platforms: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/josp.12489">grabbing and retaining attention</a> for the sake of data collection and user engagement. The catalyst for creative imagining therefore can easily become subject to an addictiveness and attention-seeking imperative rather than more transcendent artistic values. It’s possible that artificial intelligence is at a precipice, one that evokes a sense of “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2004/04/the-case-against-perfection/302927/">moral vertigo</a>” – the uneasy dizziness people feel when scientific and technological developments outpace moral understanding. Such vertigo can lead to apathy and detachment from creative expression. If human labor is removed from the process, what value does creative expression hold? Or perhaps, having opened Pandora’s box, this is an indispensable opportunity for humanity to reassert the value of art – and to push back against a technology that may prevent many real human artists from thriving. Image credits: Getty Images This article originally appeared on <a href="https://theconversation.com/chatgpt-dall-e-2-and-the-collapse-of-the-creative-process-196461" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Conversation</a>.

Art

Star Wars actor collapses and dies at age 56

Star Wars actor Paul Grant has died at the age of 56 after collapsing at London’s King’s Cross. Grant was famous for his role as an Ewok in Star Wars: Return of the Jedi in 1983, and he also played a goblin in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. The actor was found by police collapsed outside the station on Thursday afternoon, according to <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/21777602/paul-grant-dead-star-wars-ewok-actor/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Sun</a>. Grant was reportedly rushed to hospital, but the doctors declared that he was brain dead and his life support machine was turned off on Sunday. His daughter, 28-year-old Sophie Jayne Grant, has said that she was “devastated” by the loss, and has described her father as a “legend”. "My dad was a legend in so many ways. He always brought a smile and laughter to everyone's face. He would do anything for anyone and was a massive Arsenal fan," she said. “He was an actor, father and grandad. He loved his daughters and son and his girlfriend Maria very much, as well as her kids who were like stepchildren to him. My dad, I love you so much, sleep tight,” she told The Sun. Grant lived with a rare genetic type of dwarfism called Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita, that caused various health problems. He was also open about his battle with drug and alcohol addiction. Grant’s girlfriend Maria Dwyer has also paid tribute to the star. "Paul was the love of my life. The funniest man I know. He made my life complete. Life is never going to be the same without him," she said. Fans have taken to social media to mourn the star. “Sad to hear Paul Grant - Star Wars actor has died - I remember him in "Return of the Jedi" - my condolences to Paul's family,” wrote one fan. "R.I.P PAUL GRANT shocked & saddened big man ' we had fun & laughs over the years top Gooner with a passion REST EASY MY FRIEND,” wrote another. Image: Lucasfilm

News

"Stop slapping him!": Carriage horse collapses in busy street

The horrifying moment a carriage horse breaks down in the middle of a busy New York City street has angered animal activists. Heartbreaking footage shows the horse's knees buckling, possibly due to the weight of the carriage it's been pulling all day in the heat, when it fell to the ground. The driver could be seen shouting multiple times at the horse, known as Ryder, to “get up” and slapping it to get up. “What if I slapped you around like that, bro?” one person can be heard saying. “Stop slapping him,” another woman called out. “I’m trying to get him up, alright,” the driver said, as he once again whipped the horse with the reins. The driver then removed the carriage with the help of an onlooker as police arrived and sprayed Ryder with water. Ryder then attempted to get up several times but failed until an adrenaline shot was administered. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> BREAKING: This horse COLLAPSED while pulling a carriage in NYC, likely from heat exhaustion, and has been down for over an hour. Horses don’t belong in big cities where they’re put in constant danger because of cars, humans, weather, and more. <a href="https://t.co/vXBVRJRjPB">pic.twitter.com/vXBVRJRjPB</a> — PETA (@peta) <a href="https://twitter.com/peta/status/1557504250359361537?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 10, 2022</a></blockquote> After an hour or so, the horse was back on its feet and was taken to an unknown location to be looked at. Tony Utano, President of Transport Workers Union Local 100 slammed those who attacked the driver for jumping to conclusions saying the horse, Ryder, was suffering from EPM. “We thank everyone for their concern about Ryder, one of the beloved Central Park carriage horses,” he said. “The veterinarian believes Ryder has EPM, a neurological disease caused by possum droppings. “This is another example why people shouldn't rush to judgement about our horses or the blue-collar men and women who choose to work with them and care for them.” However, this did not stop animal rights group PETA from calling out the practice, which constantly puts horses in danger. “This horse COLLAPSED while pulling a carriage in NYC, likely from heat exhaustion, and has been down for over an hour,” PETA wrote. “Horses don’t belong in big cities where they’re put in constant danger because of cars, humans, weather, and more.” Many other supporters have called for the ban of carriage horses to be replaced with electric vehicles. Images: Twitter

Family & Pets

Mayan city collapse over 500 years ago linked to drought and social instability

The Mayan civilisation was among the most advanced on Earth, based in Central America. But it wasn’t all smooth sailing even before the arrival of Europeans in the 16th century. Mayapán, 40km to the south-east of the modern city of Merida, in Mexico, was the political and cultural capital of the Maya in the Yucatán peninsula with thousands of buildings and a population of 15,000-17,000 during the city’s peak. Emerging in 1200CE, the city was eventually abandoned in 1450CE after its despotic rulers from the house of Cocom were overthrown. New research published in Nature Communications suggests that the civil unrest which led to the collapse of Mayapán emerged as a result of climatic changes. The interdisciplinary team included researchers from Australia’s University of New South Wales, the University of California in the US and the University of Cambridge in the UK. Their findings shed light on the impact of changes in the climate on societies, making use of records from the city from before the Colonial Period. A prolonged drought, the authors suggest, lasting between 1400 and 1450CE escalated existing social tensions in the city. The effects of the drought on food availability in particular provided the impetus for the civil conflict which eventually led to the city’s abandonment. “Our data indicate that institutional collapse occurred in the environmental context of drought and conflict within the city,” the authors explain. “Vulnerabilities of this coupled natural-social system existed because of the strong reliance on rain-fed maize agriculture, lack of centralised long-term grain storage, minimal opportunities for irrigation, and a sociopolitical system led by elite families with competing political interests, from different parts of the Yucatán Peninsula. We argue that long-term, climate-caused hardships provoked restive tensions that were fanned by political actors whose actions ultimately culminated in political violence more than once at Mayapán.” In addition to looking at the climate (political and environmental) during the collapse of Mayapán, the researchers also looked directly at human remains found in the ancient city. “Direct radiocarbon dates and mitochrondrial DNA sequences from the remains of individuals in the city’s final mass grave suggest they were family members of the heads of state (the Cocoms), ironically and meaningfully laid to rest at the base of the Temple of K’uk’ulkan, the iconic principal temple and ritual centtr of Mayapán.” The winds of revolution, the authors argue, were fanned by political actors while conditions were worsening for the city’s inhabitants. Chief leaders of the change in political power were the members of the Xiu family house. “Our results suggest that rivalry among governing elites at Mayapán materialised into action in the context of more frequent and/or severe droughts. Comparatively, such climate challenges present a range of opportunities for human actors, from the development of innovative adaptations to the stoking of revolution. These climate hardships and ensuing food shortages would have undermined the city’s economic base and enabled the Xiu-led usurpation. The unifying and resilient institutions that held the Mayapán state together until approximately 1450CE were ultimately eroded, the confederation dissolved, and the city largely abandoned,” they explain. But the researchers also note the ability of the Maya to persist despite their difficulties. Those that abandoned Mayapan went to other cities, towns and villages. “Yet economic, social, and religious traditions persevered until the onset of Spanish rule, despite the reduced scale of political units, attesting to a resilient system of human-environmental adaptations.” Such stories from human history provide food for thought as we face our own self-inflicted climate crisis which is exacerbating hardship for many millions around the world. The authors conclude: “Our transdisciplinary work highlights the importance of understanding the complex relationships between natural and social systems, especially when evaluating the role of climate change in exacerbating internal political tensions and factionalism in areas where drought leads to food insecurity.” This article originally appeared on <a href="https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/mayan-city-collapse-drought/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cosmosmagazine.com</a> and was written by Evrim Yazgin. Image: Shutterstock

Travel Trouble

Sir Tom Jones collapses

Sir Tom Jones has been forced to postpone a concert in Budapest, after he collapsed just hours before being scheduled to take to the stage. The 82-year-old singer was treated by private doctors, who advised he postpone the concert. Local news outlets reported that an ambulance was not called to the venue, but Jones' private physicians attended to him backstage. A message from the venue in the Hungarian capital translated to English said, "Unfortunately following doctors' advice, Tom Jones regrets he is unable to perform at the MVM Dome this evening." "The show will be rescheduled to Tuesday 16th August 2022. All tickets will remain valid for the revised date." "Sir Tom sends his sincere apologies for the inconvenience created but looks forward to performing for you in August." There has been no further update on Jones' condition. Sir Tom has been jetting around the world for his much-anticipated Surrounded By Time tour and has been sharing regular snaps of his travels and shows on Instagram. His ongoing European and US tour features more than 50 dates and the singer is due to perform in cities across Germany, Croatia, Italy, Luxembourg, Norway and Belgium over the coming weeks. Image credits: Getty Images

Caring

Fans shocked as Carlos Santana collapses on stage

Music fans at a concert in America have been left stunned after Carlos Santana collapsed on stage. The 74-year-old guitar legend was performing just outside Detroit, Michigan, when the drama unfolded. During the song Joy, Carlos Santana sat down in front of the drums and then collapsed backwards. The band stopped playing as staff rushed to his aid, with a black tarp being brought in to shield the musician from the confused audience. “He kind of sat down by the drums and fell backwards and then all hell broke loose on stage,” one audience member told the Free Press. “He was soaked, he was drenched the whole time.” After medical personnel arrived, the venue’s house lights were turned on and everyone was told to leave around 10.30pm. “A lot of people started to scream, ‘we’re praying for you, Carlos!’,” journalist and audience member Jo-Ann Barnas said. “You’re alright Carlos, we’re here for you Carlos.” Barnas said it was a hot evening but she had not seen any signs that Santana was in distress before he collapsed. “Carlos was on fire,” she said. “He had just performed a solo before that and he was great.” According to Variety, the musician was conscious as he was taken offstage as he was seen waving to fans. Santana was taken to hospital for observation, where he later shared a message with his fans online. "To one and all, thank you for your precious prayers," he posted to Facebook. "(Wife) Cindy and I, we are good and just taking it easy." "Forgot to eat and drink water, so I dehydrated and passed out." "Blessings and miracles to you all." Image credits: Getty Images

Music

Five dead and dozens injured after stadium collapses during Colombian bullfight

Dozens have been injured and at least five people have died during a bullfight in Colombia after the improvised wooden stadium collapsed. Footage shows the stands crumbling during a “correlaja”, an event where spectators jump into the ring to run alongside the bulls, in El Espina in Tolima as part of the annual San Juan and San Pedro festivities, per <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/colombia-stadium-collapse-multiple-fatalities-after-improvised-venue-crumples-during-bull-fight/3256acdc-3af3-4226-b9ea-0afdc1dc5e5a" target="_blank" rel="noopener">9News</a>. According to reports, at least one bull has escaped the stadium into neighbouring streets. “At this moment, we have four (dead) victims confirmed - two women, an adult man and a minor - plus about 30 people seriously injured,” Governor Ricardo Orozco told local radio outlet BlueRadio Colombia. “Of course, we have activated all the hospitals and ambulances we can work with.” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SOSEspinal?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#SOSEspinal</a> necesitamos el apoyo de los organismos de socorro, ambulancia, médicos para atender la emergencia, hay una emergencia. <a href="https://twitter.com/DefensaCivilCo?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DefensaCivilCo</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/NoticiasCaracol?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NoticiasCaracol</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/CanalRCN?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@CanalRCN</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/MONYRODRIGUEZOF?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MONYRODRIGUEZOF</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/cruzrojacol?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@cruzrojacol</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/DCoronell?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DCoronell</a> <a href="https://t.co/2BI5sEuziS">pic.twitter.com/2BI5sEuziS</a> — Ivan Ferney Rojas M. (@IvanRojasCR) <a href="https://twitter.com/IvanRojasCR/status/1541134357565476868?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2022</a></blockquote> However, there are fears the number of injured could be much higher, with Major Luis Fernando Vélez, director of the civil defence department, telling a local radio station that “there is talk of 500 wounded”. A statement released by the Mayor’s Office of Espinal said they “deeply regret what happened in the building”. “We want to call for calm to the entire community,” it read. “Once the emergency became known, the relief agencies acted immediately, achieving the evacuation of the injured for primary care at the San Rafael Hospital in the municipality.” But, one local councillor told newspaper El Tiempo that local hospitals are struggling to cope with the influx of patients. “We still need support from ambulances and neighbouring hospitals, many people are still unattended,” Iván Ferney Rojas told the publication. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> Espero que todas las personas afectadas por el derrumbe de la plaza de El Espinal puedan salir airosas de sus heridas. Esto ya había sucedido antes en Sincelejo. Le solicito a las alcaldías no autorizar más espectáculos con la muerte de personas o animales. <a href="https://t.co/dMAq6uqlKX">pic.twitter.com/dMAq6uqlKX</a> — Gustavo Petro (@petrogustavo) <a href="https://twitter.com/petrogustavo/status/1541138473532493826?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 26, 2022</a></blockquote> The incident has also brought bullfighting into the spotlight, with president-elect Gustavo Petro calling for the events to stop. “This has already happened before in Sincelejo,” he tweeted. “I ask the mayors not to authorise more shows with the death of people or animals.” Mr Orozco also confirmed on <a href="https://twitter.com/Ricardo_Orozv/status/1541169975439892488" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Twitter</a> that the incident is being attended to by the departmental risk management committee and extraordinary security council. Image: 9News

News

5 ways climate change boosts tsunami threat, from collapsing ice shelves to sea level rise

The enormous eruption of the underwater volcano in Tonga, Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai, triggered a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/tonga-volcano-generates-tsunami-us-tsunami-monitor-said-2022-01-15/">tsunami</a> that reached countries all around the Pacific rim, even causing a <a href="https://apnews.com/article/oil-spills-business-tonga-peru-trending-news-3a92a17e2101945afcb22f5eb5bfb2ad?utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=Twitter&utm_medium=AP">disastrous oil spill</a> along 21 beaches in Peru. In Tonga, waves about 2 metres high were recorded before the sea level gauge failed, <a href="https://twitter.com/ConsulateKoT/status/1483384039826464768/photo/1">and waves of up to 15m</a> hit the west coasts of Tongatapu Islands, ‘Eua, and Ha’apai Islands. Volcanic activity could continue for weeks or months, but it’s hard to predict if or when there’ll be another such powerful eruption. Most tsunamis are caused by earthquakes, but a <a href="http://tsunami.org/what-causes-a-tsunami/">significant percentage</a> (about 15%) are caused by landslides or volcanoes. Some of these may be interlinked – for example, landslide tsunamis are often triggered by earthquakes or volcanic eruptions. But does <a href="https://www.un.org/en/climatechange/what-is-climate-change">climate change</a> also play a role? As the planet warms, we’re seeing more <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-can-climate-change-affect-natural-disasters">frequent and intense</a> storms and cyclones, the melting of glaciers and ice caps, and sea levels rising. Climate change, however, doesn’t just affect the atmosphere and oceans, it affects the Earth’s crust as well. <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-climate-geology-idUSTRE58F62I20090916">Climate-linked</a> geological changes can increase the incidence of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions which, in turn, can exacerbate the threat of tsunamis. Here are five ways this can happen. <h2>1. Sea level rise</h2> If greenhouse gas emissions remain at high rates, the average global sea level is <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/srocc/chapter/chapter-4-sea-level-rise-and-implications-for-low-lying-islands-coasts-and-communities">projected to rise</a> between 60 centimetres and 1.1m. <a href="https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Ocean-fact-sheet-package.pdf">Almost two thirds</a> of the world’s cities with populations over five million are at risk. Rising sea levels not only make coastal communities more vulnerable to flooding from storms, but also tsunamis. Even modest rises in sea level will dramatically increase the frequency and intensity of flooding when a tsunami occurs, as the tsunami can travel further inland. For example, <a href="https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aat1180">a 2018 study</a> showed only a 50 centimetre rise would double the frequency of tsunami-induced flooding in Macau, China. This means in future, smaller tsunamis could have the same impact as larger tsunamis would today. <h2>2. Landslides</h2> A warming climate can increase the risk of both submarine (underwater) and aerial (above ground) landslides, thereby increasing the risk of local tsunamis. The <a href="https://www.nrdc.org/stories/permafrost-everything-you-need-know">melting of permafrost</a> (frozen soil) at high latitudes decreases soil stability, making it more susceptible to erosion and landslides. More <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2951/climate-change-could-trigger-more-landslides-in-high-mountain-asia/">intense rainfall</a> can trigger landslides, too, as storms become more frequent under climate change. <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/faqs/how-do-landslides-cause-tsunamis#:%7E:text=Tsunamis%20are%20large%2C%20potentially%20deadly,a%20result%20of%20submarine%20earthquakes.&text=Tsunamis%20can%20be%20generated%20on,a%20rapidly%20moving%20underwater%20landslide.">Tsunamis can be generated</a> on impact as a landslide enters the water, or as water is moved by a rapid underwater landslide. In general, tsunami waves generated from landslides or rock falls dissipate quickly and don’t travel as far as tsunamis generated from earthquakes, but they can still lead to huge waves locally. In Alaska, US, glacial retreat and melting permafrost has exposed unstable slopes. In 2015, this melting caused a landslide that sent 180 million tonnes of rock into a narrow fjord, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-30475-w">generating a tsunami reaching 193m high</a> – one of the highest ever recorded worldwide. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441884/original/file-20220121-8856-1regaso.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441884/original/file-20220121-8856-1regaso.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Scientists survey damage from a megatsunami in Taan Fiord that had occurred in October, 2015 after a massive landslide. Peter Haeussler, United States Geological Survey Alaska Science Center/Wikimedia Other areas at risk include <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818121000849">northwest British Columbia</a> in Canada, and the Barry Arm in Alaska, where an <a href="https://dggs.alaska.gov/hazards/barry-arm-landslide.html">unstable mountain slope</a> at the toe of the Barry Glacier has the potential to fail and <a href="https://www.woodwellclimate.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Letter-to-Stakeholders_-Barry-Arm-Landslide-Final.pdf">generate a severe tsunami</a> in the next 20 years. <h2>3. Iceberg calving and collapsing ice shelves</h2> Global warming is accelerating the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com.au/chasing-ice-glacier-calving-climate-change-2014-10?r=US&IR=T">rate of iceberg calving</a> – when chunks of ice fall into the ocean. Studies predict large ice shelves, such as the Thwaites Glacier in Antarctica, will <a href="https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2021/12/17/crucial-antarctic-glacier-likely-to-collapse-much-earlier-than-expected/">likely collapse</a> in the next five to ten years. Likewise, the Greenland ice sheet is <a href="https://climate.nasa.gov/news/3062/warming-seas-are-accelerating-greenlands-glacier-retreat/">thinning and retreating</a> at an alarming rate. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441878/original/file-20220121-8497-jjkh3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/441878/original/file-20220121-8497-jjkh3d.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="Iceberg near ship" /></a> Icebergs colliding with the seafloor can trigger underwater landslides. Shutterstock While much of the current research focus is on the sea level risk associated with melting and collapse of glaciers and ice sheets, there’s also a <a href="https://nhess.copernicus.org/articles/12/415/2012/">tsunami risk</a> from the calving and breakup process. Wandering icebergs can trigger <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00767-4">submarine landslides and tsunamis</a> thousands of kilometres from the iceberg’s original source, as they hit unstable sediments on the seafloor. <h2>4. Volcanic activity from ice melting</h2> About 12,000 years ago, the last glacial period (“ice age”) ended and the melting ice triggered a dramatic <a href="https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/32995/2/Tuffen_PTRSL.pdf">increase in volcanic activity</a>. The correlation between climate warming and more volcanic eruptions isn’t yet well constrained or understood. But it may be related to <a href="https://pubs.er.usgs.gov/publication/70182772">changes in</a> stress to the Earth’s crust as the weight of ice is removed, and a phenomenon called “<a href="http://people.rses.anu.edu.au/lambeck_k/pdf/152.pdf">isostatic rebound</a>” – the long-term uplift of land in response to the removal of ice sheets. If this correlation holds for the current period of climate warming and melting of ice in high latitudes, there’ll be an increased risk of volcanic eruptions and associated hazards, including tsunamis. <h2>5. Increased earthquakes</h2> There are a number ways climate change can increase the frequency of earthquakes, and so increase tsunami risk. First, the weight of ice sheets may be <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/rsta.2010.0031">suppressing fault movement and earthquakes</a>. When the ice melts, the isostatic rebound (land uplift) is accompanied by an increase in earthquakes and fault movement as the crust adjusts to the loss of weight. We may have seen this already in <a href="http://www.geotimes.org/oct04/NN_glacier.html">Alaska</a>, where melting glaciers reduced the stability of faults, inducing many small earthquakes and <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921818104000487?casa_token=BGo_KzIOuJkAAAAA:UHyQvV-tvVulwAfvOFPJILcG2206iyZhOM9TCVS_VAh0UdLimWrfu_NJRTHJVtwlKBL0cfA">possibly the magnitude 7.2 St Elias earthquake</a> in 1979. Another factor is low air pressure associated with storms and typhoons, which studies have also shown can trigger earthquakes in areas where the Earth’s crust is already under stress. Even relatively small changes in air pressure can trigger fault movements, as <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature08042">an analysis</a> of earthquakes between 2002 and 2007 in eastern Taiwan identified. <h2>So how can we prepare?</h2> Many mitigation strategies for climate change should also include elements to improve tsunami preparedness. This could include incorporating projected sea level rise into tsunami prediction models, and in building codes for infrastructure along vulnerable coastlines. Researchers can also ensure scientific models of climate impacts include the projected increase in earthquakes, landslides and volcanic activity, and the increased tsunami risk this will bring.<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175247/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/jane-cunneen-290217">Jane Cunneen</a>, Adjunct Research Fellow, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/curtin-university-873">Curtin University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-climate-change-increases-the-threat-of-tsunamis-from-collapsing-ice-shelves-to-sea-level-rise-175247">original article</a>. Image: Shutterstock

Domestic Travel

This December is the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union – how does an empire collapse?

Imagine that in 2023, in the fourth year of a pandemic that has exacerbated tensions and damaged the economy, after months of wrangling over internal borders and a sharp rise in the prestige of state premiers vis-à-vis the prime minister, the premiers of New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia meet secretly and declare that the Commonwealth of Australia has effectively ceased to exist and the states will henceforth be independent nations. (Western Australia, let us imagine, has already proclaimed its independent sovereignty, with Tasmania and Queensland not far behind.) While the US Ambassador has prior warning of the premiers’ move, the Australian Prime Minister does not. Within a few weeks, the PM has been forced to resign and the Australian flag is lowered for the last time in Canberra. This isn’t exactly what happened in the Soviet Union as a result of the <a href="https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/belovezh-accords">Belovezh Accords</a>, signed by the leaders of three Soviet republics at a state dacha in Belorussia on 8 December 1991, but close enough. It’s been 30 years since the Soviet Union dissolved in the wake of a bungled reform effort by Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, elected General Secretary of the Soviet Communist Party in 1985. <h2>The Soviet crisis of 1991</h2> The Soviet Union, created by the Bolshevik Revolution of 1917, consisted of 16 constituent republics, named for their majority nationality (Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian and so on). Despite some notorious episodes of repression, such as the <a href="https://www.sciencespo.fr/mass-violence-war-massacre-resistance/fr/document/massive-deportation-chechen-people-how-and-why-chechens-were-deported.html">deportation of Chechens</a> from the Caucasus during World War II), ethnic discrimination was generally discouraged. For all the vaunted centralisation of the Soviet system – run from Moscow by the Politburo of the country’s sole political party, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, with branches down from republic to workplaces – Moscow in practice delegated substantial powers to its appointed republican leaders. Moscow had the power to fire, of course, but since the 1970s, it had been sparingly used. The Soviet crisis of 1991 was brought on not by a pandemic but by Gorbachev’s “revolution from above’”, which promised democratic openness (glasnost) and economic restructuring (perestroika) to stimulate initiative and make the top-down system more flexible. Unfortunately, Gorbachev left the economy as the last priority and started with democratisation, which had the effect of stirring up waves of criticism that undermined authority and trust, and things quickly became shambolic. By mid 1991, with the glue of the Communist Party coming unstuck, most of the republican leaders had stopped listening to Moscow and changed their title from first party secretary to republican president. The Baltic states and Armenia had already claimed sovereignty when the three presidents of Russia, Ukraine and Belorussia met in the Belovezh forest (Gorbachev not invited) and voted for independence and an end to the Union. On 25 December, Gorbachev resigned the Soviet presidency, and the Soviet flag over the Kremlin came down. <h2>Decline of an ‘empire’</h2> Only the three Baltic states, a late incorporation into the Soviet Union never fully accepted by the population, had well-developed popular independence movements, so there was urgent catching up to be done in the new successor states. Popular nationalism had to be stoked and national histories written, usually in terms of colonial oppression under Soviet (Russian) rule. Western historians, who had not previously called the Soviet Union an “empire”, rushed to adjust their terminology: if a multinational state fell apart into national segments, what else could it be than a revolt of the colonies against imperial rule? The term wasn’t even wholly inaccurate: Russia had been the largest and most populous republic, Moscow was the Union’s capital, and Russian its lingua franca. At some times in Soviet history, the flow of resources (“economic exploitation”) had mainly been from periphery to centre, though latterly more often the opposite. If the Soviet Union was an empire, however, it was an odd one. Leaving aside its revolutionary founders’ anti-imperial ideology, there was the fact that, fearing undue Russian dominance, they had given the Russian Republic fewer powers and prerogatives than other republics, and generally discouraged Russian nationalism. <h2>The Russian republic</h2> Until Soviet career politician Boris Yeltsin fell afoul of Gorbachev and built up a power base in the Moscow party, the Russian republic had never played a significant role in Soviet high politics. But when Yeltsin was elected president of the Russian Republic, Moscow became home to two presidents, which was clearly one too many. Gorbachev lost the contest, and the collapse of the Soviet Union was an almost unintended byproduct. The march of the republics out of the Soviet Union was not a result of popular unrest (the Baltics being something of a special case) but of decisions taken by the republics’ (Soviet) bosses, with Yeltsin, president of the putative “imperial” nation, leading the way. <a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435976/original/file-20211206-19-1hbz9l9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/435976/original/file-20211206-19-1hbz9l9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" alt="" /></a> Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk (second from left seated), Chairman of the Supreme Council of the Republic of Belarus Stanislav Shushkevich (third from left seated) and Russian President Boris Yeltsin (second from right seated) during the signing ceremony to eliminate the USSR and establish the Commonwealth of Independent States. RIA Novosti, <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/" class="license">CC BY</a> <h2>Shock and chagrin</h2> If my imagined scenario ever took place in Australia, Australians would be plunged into a state of shock, surprise and confusion. That is exactly what happened to Soviet citizens, who until 1991 had assumed that, for better or worse, the USSR was an immutable fact of life. Shock was the key word of 1990s Russia, accompanied by chagrin at losing superpower status and world respect. As Vladimir Putin said, anyone who didn’t regret the passing of the Soviet Union “had no heart” (though he added that those who sought to resurrect it “had no brain”), and sure enough, for years Russian opinion polls confirmed this. The Soviet Union, its military and security services intact to the end, had seemed so armoured against change, so boringly solid. To give Putin the last word, “Who could have imagined that it would simply collapse?” Sheila Fitzpatrick’s book The Shortest History of the Soviet Union will be published by Black, Inc in March<img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172869/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /> <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/sheila-fitzpatrick-122580">Sheila Fitzpatrick</a>, Professor of History at the Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, <a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/australian-catholic-university-747">Australian Catholic University</a> This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/this-december-is-the-30th-anniversary-of-the-fall-of-the-soviet-union-how-does-an-empire-collapse-172869">original article</a>. Image: AP Photo/Boris Yurchenko

International Travel

Harry Potter star speaks about "scary" collapse

Harry Potter star Tom Felton has taken to social media to update fans on his condition after suffering a “scary” health related incident. The 34-year-old actor assured his followers that he was “on the mend” after collapsing during a celebrity golf match at the Ryder Cup in Wisconsin last week. “Hello everyone, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. Just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the lovely well wishes as of recent,” Felton said in the video. “Bit of a scary episode, really – but on the mend, people have been taking really good care of me. So thank you very much to anyone who has sent messages of get well soon because I am on the mend, officially.” Switching into a singing voice he added: “Don’t you worry ‘cause Tom will be doing fine…So don’t you worry, Tom will be doing fine.” Tom was loaded onto a stretcher on the golf course on Thursday after reportedly collapsing at the 18th hole, and driven off for medical attention. <img style="width: 500px; height: 281.25px;" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/7844428/new-project-1.jpg" alt="" data-udi="umb://media/d35583503cf7435bbf3d5fe3d6735134" /> Image: Getty The PGA of America confirmed the incident in a statement to CNN shortly afterwards. “In today’s Ryder Cup Celebrity Match, actor and Musician Tom Felton experienced a medical incident on the course while participating for Europe,” A spokesperson said. He was transported to a local hospital for treatment. No further details were available. Felton is best known for playing Draco Malfoy in the Harry Potter franchise – a role he landed at 14 years old. He went on to appear in all eight Harry Potter movies.

Body

Elderly man collapses when arrested for not wearing a face mask

A video of the incident has been posted on social media, showing the elderly man crumpling to the ground and going into spasm just minutes after being arrested. The man was arrested for ‘not wearing a mask in public’ in Brisbane where there is a snap lockdown due to an increase in COVID cases and one of the conditions of the lockdown is that face masks must be worn in public at all times. However, this elderly man allegedly has an official exemption due to a serious medical condition. The distressing incident was filmed on Monday morning in Brisbane's Botanic Gardens after Queensland's lockdown was extended to stem the spread of Covid in the community. <iframe allowfullscreen="" scrolling="no" id="molvideoplayer" title="MailOnline Embed Player" src="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/embed/video/2472921.html" width="698" height="573" frameborder="0"></iframe> According to the man's son, who shared the footage online, the elderly man suffers from a medical condition which causes him breathing difficulties and heart problems. During the arrest, he fell to the floor and started to spasm, gasping for air with his hands waving as he tried to reach for his backpack - which contained his medication. When the police realised the man was in serious distress, they called an ambulance and paramedics arrived on the scene shortly after. They couldn’t identify a medical issue but they took the man to hospital as a precaution. The distressing scenes were filmed by the elderly man's partner. The video appears to show four police officers questioning the man as they arrest him and lead him away from the park for failing to answer their questions. The elderly man’s partner repeatedly tries to tell the officers the man has an exemption to wearing a mask. But an officer was recorded as stating he “was not confident [the man] would comply with directives” if he were to remove the handcuffs. As the man was led away from the park in handcuffs, the footage shows him dramatically dropping to the floor and beginning to spasm. The officers immediately respond, trying to turn the man on his side as his partner screams for help, explaining there is medication in a pocket of his bag. An officer was filmed explaining he was legally not allowed to administer the medication, while a female policewoman reassured the woman that an ambulance had been called. The elderly man’s son has posted the video on social media, stating: “He did not do anything illegal, he did not retaliate in a violent manner. He was conducting himself peacefully and not looking for trouble.” He then posed several questions to the officers who arrested his dad, wanting to know exactly what he did to wind up in handcuffs and under arrest. Queensland is in the midst of a Delta COVID variant outbreak. As a result, the Sunshine State is enduring a week-long snap lockdown in an attempt to keep cases at bay. Chief Health Officer, Jeanette Young, has mandated that face masks be worn everywhere outside the home to minimise the risk of spreading or catching the virus. Police have stated they are investigating the incident to check if any possible offences were committed on that day. Image: Courtesy of Instagram

News

Nearly 100 people missing after building collapses

At least one person has died and many more are trapped after a wing of a 12-storey apartment building collapsed in Miami, America. The apartment building collapsed on Thursday morning around 1:30 am local time which trapped residents in rubble and twisted metal. Nearly 100 people were unaccounted for around midday, with authorities fearing the death toll could rise sharply. Surfside Mayor Charles Burkett described the building as “literally pancaked”. “That is heartbreaking because it doesn’t mean, to me, that we are going to be as successful as we wanted to be in finding people alive,” he said. Florida's Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, the state's fire marshal, said that there are teams of 10 to 12 rescuers entering the rubble at a time with dogs and other equipment. “They’re not going to stop just because of nightfall,” Mr Patronis told Miami television station WPLG. “They just may have a different path they pursue.” Surfside City Commissioner Eliana Salzhauer is demanding answers as the building was undergoing county-mandated 40-year recertification. A building inspector was on-site Wednesday and the process was believed to be proceeding without difficulty. “I want to know why this happened,” Ms Salzhauer said. “That’s really the only question. ... And can it happen again? Are any other of our buildings in town in jeopardy?”

News

Tragic scenes as clifftop cemetery collapses into the sea

<div class="post_body_wrapper"> <div class="post_body"> <div class="body_text redactor-styles redactor-in"> A landslide has caused hundreds of coffins to end up in the ocean on the Italian coast near Genoa. The Camogli cemetery was built more than 100 years ago and is situated along an area of rocky seaside cliffs. Francesco Olivari, the mayor of Camogli, called the collapse an “unimaginable catastrophe.” <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Camogli?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Camogli</a> (GE), frana cimitero: prosegue da parte di specialisti <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sommozzatori?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#sommozzatori</a> e nautici dei <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/vigilidelfuoco?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#vigilidelfuoco</a> la ricerca e il recupero delle centinaia di bare finite in mare lunedì pomeriggio. Droni in volo per monitorare le operazioni delle squadre e l’area del crollo <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/24febbraio?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#24febbraio</a> <a href="https://t.co/cRFxHw0KJe">pic.twitter.com/cRFxHw0KJe</a> — Vigili del Fuoco (@emergenzavvf) <a href="https://twitter.com/emergenzavvf/status/1364576829546364928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 24, 2021</a></blockquote> Maintenance was being performed on Saturday alongside the areas of the coastline when it was stopped after workers noticed cracks in the rocks. “We were doing work on a portion of the rocky coast - it was close to the area that fell today,” Olivari told CNN on Monday. “Some signs of fissures were seen. We decided to close the cemetery.” On Tuesday, officials said they will continue work on recovering the coffins and corpses. It is estimated 200 coffins had fallen, but only 10 have been recovered. Recovering the rest of the coffins will "depend on the sea in the coming days", according to Giacomo Giampedrone, regional assessor of civil protection. </div> </div> </div>

Travel Trouble

Nurse collapses and dies mysteriously while walking the dog

The family of a “brilliant and caring” nurse is mourning her death after she tragically collapsed and died while taking her dog out for a stroll. Jane Baxter, 43, a single mum from Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, passed away while she took her family pet out for a walk on June 2. Her two devastated children Isabelle, 14 and Harry, 11 are both struggling to come to terms with the loss of their wonderful mum. Jane’s sister, Sue Baxter, 53, said that she had received a call early in the morning to say her sister had been rushed to hospital after collapsing. “She went out for a walk and didn’t come home,” she devastatingly recounted. “I got a call to say she had collapsed on the road and an ambulance had been called.” Emergency services arrived in Litherland where Jane collapsed near her home and took her to Fazakerley Hospital, where she died later after never regaining consciousness. Jane's death is not being treated as coronavirus related but the cause is yet to be found. Results could take six months before any answers or comfort can be given to Jane’s heartbroken family. To help with funeral costs and to aid Jane’s two children for their future, the family have put together a GoFundMe. “Jane was a vibrant, compassionate and caring person to all who knew her,” the page read. "Jane's passing was so sudden, Harry and Issy never got the chance to hug or say goodbye to their beautiful mum. "As a single mum, Jane always made sure her children never went without and worked hard to give them the best life possible. "Living with her lovely mum Jean, they all shared plenty of love and laughter. "As friends who experienced Jane's warmth & kindness, we would like to raise as much as possible to help Harry and Issy through these terrible and distressing times. "It may just be a day out, a pair of shoe mum would have bought, Xmas and birthday gifts etc that a mother may buy her children. "All funds raised will help these children through times such as school proms and events in life where mum would have been their side by side with her two favourite sidekicks." The family told the Echo that Jane qualified as a nurse in 2003 and worked on the High Dependency Unit (HDU) in Alder Hey. They described her as a “brilliant, caring” nurse who lived for her children.

Caring

Jamie Oliver's restaurant chain collapses leaving 1,000 people jobless

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has been “deeply saddened” after his British restaurant chain collapsed into administration, leaving more than 1,000 people out of work. The Jamie’s Italian Limited firm – which includes 23 Jamie’s Italian restaurants and 15 Barbecoa outlets – confirmed that it had gone into administration and appointed financial firm KPMG to oversee the process. “I am deeply saddened by this outcome and would like to thank all of the staff and our suppliers who have put their hearts and souls into this business for over a decade,” the 43-year-old said in a statement. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"> I’m devastated that our much-loved UK restaurants have gone into administration. I am deeply saddened by this outcome and would like to thank all of the people who have put their hearts and souls into this business over the years. Jamie Oliver — Jamie Oliver (@jamieoliver) <a href="https://twitter.com/jamieoliver/status/1130796738292408320?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 21, 2019</a></blockquote> “I appreciate how difficult this is for everyone affected. “I would also like to thank all the customers who have enjoyed and supported us over the last decade, it’s been a real pleasure serving you.” Oliver opened his first Jamie’s Italian in 2008, and expanded the business across the UK in the following years. “We launched Jamie’s Italian in 2008 with the intention of positively disrupting mid-market dining in the UK high street, with great value and much higher quality ingredients, best in class animal welfare standards and an amazing team who shared my passion for great food and service. And we did exactly that.” His restaurant chain had been in trouble for <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-22/jamie-oliver-restaurant-chain-collapses-uk/11136594">at least two years</a>, despite the celebrity chef’s fame with his cookbooks, TV shows and public health initiatives. Last year, it closed 12 of its 37 branches in Britain, while five of its Australian arms were sold off and another put into administration. Oliver said he had spent <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2018/aug/30/jamie-oliver-spent-13m-to-save-italian-chain-hours-before-bankruptcy">£13 million of his own money</a> to save the business from bankruptcy. “We had simply run out of cash,” he said in an interview with the <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.ft.com/jamieoliver" target="_blank">Financial Times</a> in October. “I think that the senior management we had in place were trying to manage what they would call the perfect storm: rents, rates, the high street declining, food costs, Brexit, increase in the minimum wage. There was a lot going on.”

Money & Banking

One of the world's biggest airlines collapses

India’s Jet Airways has finally collapsed after months of speculation. The once iconic airline has been struggling for months to stay in business and the announcement follows weeks of questions over the fate of the airline. Jet Airways has failed to secure emergency funding from India’s banks and is suspending all flights. The collapse of Jet Airways is the biggest in India since the failure of Kingfisher Airlines back in 2012. The blow is massive to the Indian aviation industry, as demand soars for services. However, airlines are struggling to keep the prices low. Jet Airways explained in a statement their sadness. "This has been a very difficult decision but without interim funding, the airline is simply unable to conduct flight operations," Jet Airways said in statement. "Above all, the airline would like to express its sincere gratitude to all its employees and stakeholders that have stood by the company in these trying times." The airline was informed late on Tuesday by a range of lenders that are led by the government-run State Bank of India that the airline would not be receiving more funds. Passengers are being informed about the closure of the airline via email and text messages and are able to claim a refund. The airline’s operations had shrunk to 40 flights on 5 aircraft on Tuesday, before the closure was announced. However, the banks are continuing to search for a private investor to buy 75 per cent of the airline. The deadline for bids is May 10th.

Travel Trouble

Mid-air panic as pilot collapses in cockpit

A Thomas Holidays flight was forced to make an emergency landing on Sunday when the pilot collapsed in the cockpit just 16 minutes after take-off. One passenger on the Thomson Holiday flight 1714 saw the pilot “lying prostrate on the floor” after he keeled over just 16 minutes into the flight from Newcastle, UK to Larnaca, Cyprus, <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4646735/thomson-jet-newcastle-emergency-landing-flight-1714-pilot-collapses-during-flight-larnaca-sofia-bulgaria/">The Sun</a> reports. Panic started to spread throughout the flight as passengers saw crew rushing to collect oxygen cylinders to take into the cockpit. “It was terrifying,” the passenger, a father of one, told The Sun. “I glimpsed inside the cockpit door. There was coffee all over the floor and it looked like the guy had collapsed. “He was lying prostrate on the floor. It’s not what you want to see happening at the front of the plane.” The plane, which has only been in the air for 16 minutes, made an emergency landing in Bulgaria, where passengers had to stay in hotels overnight. Another passenger, who spent £2,100 for a family week-long break in Cyprus, said: “Money wasn’t what I was thinking about when the pilot collapsed. “He was wheeled out of the cockpit and off the plane after our emergency landing before being placed on a stretcher and taken off to hospital.” Shocked passengers were frustrated with the lack of information the airlines provided about their emergency landing, with Samantha Eaton tweeting: “What the hell is going on, diverted to Sofia, trying to get home to Larnaca! 24 hour helpline no help no flight info.” Alison Wilkinson also complained about Thomson’s lack of information on what to do next. “Stuck @ Sofia airport after plane diverted from Newcastle ... anyone know whats happening,” she tweeted. “Any news, we have been standing outside Sofia airport for 30 minutes waiting for buses/taxes in 8 degrees.” Thomson Airways told The Sun: “We can confirm that as a result of one of our pilots feeling unwell, the decision was taken to divert the Newcastle to Larnaca, Cyprus flight last night. “A priority landing was requested at Sofia, Bulgaria which was the closest airport and the pilot was taken to a nearby hospital to be assessed. “We would like to thank all of our customers for their patience and we are working to get them on their holiday as quickly as possible. “The welfare of all customers and crew travelling with us is our priority at all times.”

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Tragic scenes as clifftop cemetery collapses into the sea

Nurse collapses and dies mysteriously while walking the dog

Jamie Oliver's restaurant chain collapses leaving 1,000 people jobless

One of the world's biggest airlines collapses

Mid-air panic as pilot collapses in cockpit

News

Shop

Catalogues

Travel

Health

Lifestyle

Finance

Entertainment

Property

Information

Keep up to date

Search

Unimaginable scenes as Baltimore bridge collapses

Devastating leaked email places Jenny Craig on brink of collapse

Former beauty queen collapses and dies at just 25

ChatGPT, DALL-E 2 and the collapse of the creative process

Star Wars actor collapses and dies at age 56

"Stop slapping him!": Carriage horse collapses in busy street

Mayan city collapse over 500 years ago linked to drought and social instability

Sir Tom Jones collapses

Fans shocked as Carlos Santana collapses on stage

Five dead and dozens injured after stadium collapses during Colombian bullfight

5 ways climate change boosts tsunami threat, from collapsing ice shelves to sea level rise

This December is the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Soviet Union – how does an empire collapse?

Harry Potter star speaks about "scary" collapse

Elderly man collapses when arrested for not wearing a face mask

Nearly 100 people missing after building collapses

Tragic scenes as clifftop cemetery collapses into the sea

​Nurse collapses and dies mysteriously while walking the dog

Jamie Oliver's restaurant chain collapses leaving 1,000 people jobless

One of the world's biggest airlines collapses

Mid-air panic as pilot collapses in cockpit

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Nurse collapses and dies mysteriously while walking the dog