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☆ From Miami to Melbourne, a quiet revolution is underway to fend off a silent and invisible killer
▼ + stars: | 2024-04-02 | by ( Sam Meredith | In Samuelmeredith | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +7 min

Javier Torres | Afp | Getty ImagesA quiet revolution is underway to address a widely underestimated climate challenge: extreme heat. Myrivili said she believes that extreme heat is often overlooked because it lacks the visible drama of roofs being ripped from homes or streets being turned into rivers. Most people wouldn't know that in Australia, extreme heat kills more people than bushfires and floods and storms. Tiffany Crawford Co-chief heat officer of Melbourne, AustraliaThe CDC defines extreme heat as summertime temperatures that are significantly hotter and/or more humid than average. Melbourne, AustraliaTiffany Crawford, co-CHO of Melbourne, told CNBC that extreme heat kills more people in Australia than bushfires, floods and storms.

Persons: Javier Torres, Eleni Myrivili, CHO, Myrivili, Tiffany Crawford Co, Jane Gilbert, We've, Gilbert, Giorgio Viera, Afreen, Dhaka North's CHO, Bushra, Australia Tiffany Crawford, Crawford, Krista Milne, Diego Fedele Organizations: Afp, Getty, CNBC, Centers for Disease Control, CDC, Dade, Dhaka North, Dhaka North's, Nurphoto, Environmental, Station Locations: Quilpue comune, Valparaiso region, Chile, Athens, U.S, Australia, Melbourne, Miami, Miami , Florida, Dhaka, Bangladesh, Australian

☆ Happy New Year of the Dragon - or Loong?
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-16 | by ( Chris Lau | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +7 min

This year, it’s the Year of the Dragon, or more accurately, the “Year of the Loong,” says Chinese state media, using its preferred term for the mythical beast. The Chinese “loong” conjures positivity, nobleness and fortune and therefore should be distinguished linguistically from its Western cousin, state media argues. Chinese media has dedicated coverage and airtime to promote the new nomenclature over the past week or so, though both “dragon” and “loong” are being used interchangeably in English-language reports. “Transcribing long into English ‘loong’ would cause more problems and confusion than translating it as ‘dragon’,” he wrote. He noted that “some patriotic and political sources in the Sinosphere” have been peddling the concept that the Western dragon is fearful.

Persons: ”, Loong ”, it’s, loong, “ loong, Xi Jinping, Loong, John Lee, Wong Tai, Alex Chan Tsz Yuk, Elliott, Bradford Lee Eden, Eden, Eduardo Leal, ‘, Weibo, Victor Mair, Mair, “ loong ”, ” Eden, “ Organizations: Hong Kong CNN, Disney, Xinhua, of Library Services, Valparaiso University ,, Tolkien Research, Getty, University of Pennsylvania, Valparaiso University Locations: China, Hong Kong, Beijing, Valparaiso University , Indiana, Macau, Weibo, West

☆ Fires Are the Sum of Our Choices
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-14 | by ( David Wallace-Wells | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

In early February, the deadliest South American wildfires in a century swept through Valparaiso, Chile, killing more than a hundred people. In the United States, mercifully little land burned — only 2.6 million acres, which was less than half the recent average. But in Canada, fires ate through more than twice as much forest as the country’s previous modern record, the total burn scar large enough that more than half the world’s countries could fit inside. In Greece, one fire forced the country’s largest-ever evacuation, and another became the largest fire in the history of the European Union. And in the United States, especially, you increasingly hear a somewhat contrarian explanation that emphasizes fire suppression rather than warming.

Persons: “, Stephen Pyne, Daniel Swain Organizations: European Union, Sydney Locations: Valparaiso, Chile, Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii’s, United States, Canada, Greece, Australia, McMurray , Alberta, Hawaii, Boulder County, Colo

☆ ‘Super El Niño’ is here, but will it last? What’s in store for the coming months
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-07 | by ( Mary Gilbert | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +4 min

CNN —The current El Niño is now one of the strongest on record, new data shows, catapulting it into rare “super El Niño” territory. It means a very strong El Niño is ongoing. El Niño influences weather around the globe, so its strength and demise will continue to have an impact on the weather we experience in the coming months. Average conditions during an El Niño winter across the continental US. El Niño has been known to enhance atmospheric river events on the West Coast.

Persons: El, El Niño, Niño, Michelle L’Heureux, ” L’Heureux, L’Heureux, El Niños, Javier Torres, There’s, CNN’s Rachel Ramirez, Brandon Miller Organizations: CNN, El, AFP, Getty Locations: El, California, West Coast, Americas, Chile, Valparaiso, South America, Africa, Australia, Asia

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) — Volunteers in central Chile tried to remove charred metal, broken glass and other debris Monday from neighborhoods devastated by wildfires over the past several days, as officials raised the death toll to 122. The fires appeared to have diminished by Monday morning after burning intensely since Friday on the eastern edge of the city of Viña del Mar. An additional 10 victims were added to the death toll on Monday afternoon, bringing it to 122, said Marisol Prado, the director of Chile’s Forensic Medical Service. Viña del Mar's Mayor Macarena Ripamonti said that at least 370 people have been reported missing in the city of about 300,000 residents. Hundreds of people affected by the fires returned to their homes on Monday to search through the debris.

Persons: Villa Alemana, Gabriel Boric, Marisol Prado, Prado, Viña, Macarena Ripamonti, — —, Rueda Organizations: — Volunteers, Forensic Medical Service, Viña del Locations: SANTIAGO, Chile, Viña del Mar, Valparaiso, Viña del, Santiago, del Mar, Villa, Bogota, Colombia

☆ ‘We’re Broken’: Wildfires on Chile’s Coast Kill 64 and Leave Hundreds Missing
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-04 | by ( Annie Correal | John Bartlett | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: 1 min

Days after devastating wildfires swept through Chile’s Pacific Coast, officials said on Sunday that at least 64 people had been killed and hundreds remained missing and warned that the number of dead could rise sharply. “That number is going to go up, we know it’s going to go up significantly,” President Gabriel Boric said on Sunday, describing the fires in the Valparaíso region as the worst disaster in the country since a cataclysmic earthquake in 2010 left more than 400 people dead and displaced 1.5 million. Thousands of homes were destroyed in the fires, which swept through the coastal hills toward the resort of Viña del Mar starting Friday, propelled by high winds. The fires came as many were vacationing in Viña del Mar and roared through hillside settlements where many older residents were not able to escape.

Persons: Gabriel Boric Organizations: Chile’s, Viña del Mar Locations: Coast, Viña, Viña del Mar

☆ Wildfires Threaten 2 Chilean Cities, Destroying 1,000 Homes and Killing 40
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( John Bartlett | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

Forest fires ripping through central Chile’s coastal hills since Friday have killed at least 40 people and destroyed more than 1,000 homes, with many more feared dead, according to the national government. The wildfires are encroaching on Viña del Mar and Valparaíso, two cities that form a sprawling region that is home to more than one million people on Chile’s central coastline, about 75 miles northeast of the capital, Santiago. Just after midday, President Gabriel Boric flew over the area in a helicopter, and said his government had worked to “secure the greatest resources” in Chile’s history to fight the blazes during the country’s wildfire season, which typically hits during the Southern Hemisphere’s summer and reaches a peak in February. “I assure you all that we will be there as a government to help you recover,” he wrote on the social media platform X. Later, he said the confirmed death toll had risen to 40 people, and warned, “the number of victims is sure to increase.

Persons: Gabriel Boric, “, ” Organizations: del Locations: del Mar, Santiago

☆ Raging Forest Fires Kill at Least 19 in Chile; Toll Expected to Rise
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-03 | by ( Feb. | At P.M. | ) www.usnews.com time to read: +1 min

(Reuters) - At least 19 people were killed by forest fires in the coastal tourist city of Vina del Mar and the death toll could rise in the coming hours as rescue teams reach more affected areas, Interior Minister Carolina Toha said on Saturday. Throughout the country there were 92 active fires, leaving more than 43,000 hectares affected by the incident, Interior Minister Toha said. "The area with fires today is much smaller than last year (but) at this time the number of hectares affected is multiplying very rapidly," Toha said. Toha said that the authorities' greatest concern was that some of the active fires were developing very close to urban areas "with the very high potential to affect people, homes and facilities". (Reporting by Diego Ore; Additional reporting by Natalia Ramos y Jorge Vega; Editing by Drazen Jorgic and Franklin Paul)

Persons: Carolina Toha, Toha, Diego Ore, Natalia Ramos, Jorge Vega, Drazen Jorgic, Franklin Paul Organizations: Reuters, Vina del Mar Locations: Vina, Valparaiso, Chile

CNN —Chile has declared a state of emergency as it battles raging forest fires throughout the country that have killed at least 51 people – and authorities say the death toll is likely to rise. He added that the defense ministry would deploy more military units to affected areas, with all necessary resources made available. The declaration was made for the provinces of Marga Marga and Valparaíso, the presidential delegate of Valparaíso Sofía González Cortés said. The wildfires in Valparaíso have also damaged an estimated 1,100 homes, authorities said. At least six of those who died did so while being treated in hospitals for burns, according to authorities.

Persons: “, Gabriel Boric, Marga Marga, Valparaíso, González Cortés, Carolina Tohá, Tohá, Esteban Felix, Javier Torres, Toha Organizations: CNN, Chile, Marga, Firefighters, AFP, Getty Locations: Valparaíso, Chile’s, El

☆ ‘Old smoker’ stars revealed at the heart of the Milky Way
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Ashley Strickland | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +6 min

CNN —A decade-long survey of the night sky has revealed a mysterious new type of star astronomers are referring to as an “old smoker.”These previously hidden stellar objects are aging, giant stars located near the heart of the Milky Way galaxy. This illustration shows an eruption occurring in the swirling disk of matter around a newborn star. They help the newborn star in the middle to grow, but make it harder for planets to form. Infrared images show a red giant star, located 30,000 light years away near the center of the Milky Way. Understanding how the old smokers release elements into space could change the way astronomers think about the way such elements are distributed across the universe.

Persons: Philip Lucas, Lucas, ”, Zhen Guo, Fondecyt, Guo, ” Guo, ” Lucas, Dante Minniti Organizations: CNN, Royal Astronomical Society, Astronomers, Survey, Cerro Paranal Observatory, Southern, University of Hertfordshire, University of Valparaiso, University of Hertfordshire Red, NASA, Andrés Bello University Locations: Chilean Andes, Cerro, Chile

Containers of the Hapag-Lloyd shipping company are pictured at the Valparaiso port, Chile November 24, 2022. Chief Executive Rolf Habben Jansen said there were signs of recovery in spot freight rates and loadings. Shares in Hapag-Lloyd, the world's fifth-largest shipping line, were 2.9% down at 187.5 euros in early trade. Its first half revenues were 41% lower at 10.0 billion euros. EBITDA is expected to be between 4 billion and 6 billion euros.

Persons: Rodrigo Garrido, EBIT, Lloyd, Rolf Habben Jansen, Vera Eckert, Friederike Heine, Kim Coghill, Barbara Lewis Organizations: Lloyd, REUTERS, Companies, Maersk, CMA CGM, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Valparaiso, Chile, FRANKFURT, Hapag, North America, Ukraine

☆ US court revives lawsuit against Royal Caribbean over toddler's death
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( Jonathan Stempel | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

(Reuters) - A federal appeals court on Tuesday revived a lawsuit against Royal Caribbean Cruises by the parents of an 18-month-old girl who died after slipping through her grandfather’s hands and falling through an open cruise ship window. Royal Caribbean and its lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Jacqueline Garcell, a lawyer for the parents, faulted Royal Caribbean for refusing to install devices that many large hotel chains also use to prevent falls. “We look forward to continuing our fight for justice for Chloe Wiegand and to make cruise ships safer,” she said. The case is Wiegand et al v Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd, 11th U.S.

Persons: Keith Bedford, Chloe Wiegand, Salvatore Anello, Chloe, Alan Wiegand, Kimberly Schultz, Wiegand, Donald Graham, Jacqueline Garcell, Anello Organizations: Reuters, Royal Caribbean Cruises, Royal, REUTERS, Circuit, Royal Caribbean, District, Puerto Rico’s Department of Justice, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd Locations: Staten, Royal Caribbean, New York, U.S, Atlanta, San Juan , Puerto Rico, Indiana, Miami, Valparaiso , Indiana, 11th U.S

☆ Chile official warns of 'worst front in a decade' after floods, evacuations
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-23 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The flooding around the Mapocho river has also cut off routes leading towards the Pacific Ocean, hitting families who live on its banks and leaving small towns isolated. This led authorities to declare a "red alert" and order preventive evacuations in various towns in the south of Santiago. "This is the worst weather front we have had in 10 years," Santiago metropolitan area governor Claudio Orego said. The flooding of the Mapocho river has also affected parts of the busy route that connects Santiago with the key port city of Valparaiso. In mountainous tourist areas around the Maipo river, authorities have since Thursday been moving residents out of their towns due to the risk of landslides and further flooding.

Persons: SANTIAGO, Claudio Orego, Franco Rodriguez, Natalia Ramos, Carolina Pulice, Sarah Morland Organizations: Reuters, Thomson Locations: Santiago, Noviciado, Valparaiso, City

Section 1983 gives people the power to sue in federal court when state officials violate their constitutional or statutory rights. In a 2019 lawsuit, his wife, Ivanka Talevski, said Talevski was subjected to harmful psychotropic drugs and unlawfully transferred to an all-male facility. A law called the Federal Nursing Home Reform Act places limits the use of physical or chemical restraints and on transferring patients. President Joe Biden's administration had urged the justices to reject a broad limitation on lawsuits pursued under Section 1983. Reporting by Nate Raymond in Boston; Additional reporting by Andrew Chung; Editing by Will DunhamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ketanji Brown Jackson, Gorgi, Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Ivanka Talevski, Talevski, Joe Biden's, Nate Raymond, Andrew Chung, Will Dunham Organizations: U.S, Supreme, Indiana, Health, Hospital Corp, Ku Klux Klan, Americans, Conservative, Valparaiso Care, Rehabilitation, Health and Hospital Corp, Federal Nursing Home, Thomson Locations: Indiana, Marion County, Valparaiso, Boston

☆ Chile's Boric to insist on shelved tax reform bill by end of July
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-01 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/10] Chile's President Gabriel Boric gestures on the day of his annual speech at the National Congress, in Valparaiso, Chile June 1, 2023. REUTERS/Rodrigo GarridoSANTIAGO, June 1 (Reuters) - Chilean President Gabriel Boric said on Thursday his government will insist on pushing through a tax reform bill that was shelved by Congress earlier this year. "Everyone in this room knows, that neither this government or any other, can advance responsibly in making these rights a reality without tax reform." The government has also seen key parts of its agenda, like tax reform bill shelved by Congress in March, stalled by a divided legislature. During his speech, Boric also announced that the government will send a bill to Congress this year seeking bids for large scale energy storage requiring $2 billion in investments.

Persons: Gabriel Boric, Rodrigo Garrido SANTIAGO, Boric, We've, Alexander Villegas, Fabian Cambero, Alistair Bell Organizations: National Congress, REUTERS, Thomson Locations: Valparaiso, Chile, Latin America

☆ What Number Comes Next? The Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences Knows.
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-21 | by ( Siobhan Roberts | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Dr. Sloane is the founder of the On-Line Encyclopedia of Integer Sequences, a database of 362,765 (and counting) number sequences defined by a precise rule or property. In 1995, it became an “encyclopedia,” with 5,487 sequences and an additional author, Simon Plouffe, a mathematician in Quebec. A year later, the collection had doubled in size again, so Dr. Sloane put it on the internet. Dr. Pudwell writes algorithms to solve counting problems. “I found this perplexing,” Dr. Pudwell said.

☆ Chile's voters set to take big step in constitution redraft 2.0
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-05 | by ( Natalia A. Ramos Miranda | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

REUTERS/Rodrigo GarridoSANTIAGO, May 5 (Reuters) - Chileans will vote to elect 50 constitutional advisers on Sunday, a major step towards rewriting the constitution, after voters overwhelmingly rejected a first attempt in a plebiscite last September to replace the dictatorship-era charter. The so-called Constitutional Council that voters are set to elect will work as of June on the new constitution, based on a preliminary draft prepared by a commission of 24 experts that Congress appointed in March. "I voted to approve (in September), I wanted a new constitution and to get rid of the dictatorship's constitution, but now I'm not really interested." He stressed that traditional political forces are now more in control of the process, unlike the failed first attempt. It seems "likely that no single bloc or party will win enough seats to independently steer the process without compromise," Watson said.

☆ Chile approves bill cutting work week to 40 hours from 45
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/7] Chile's Labor Minister Jeannette Jara celebrates next to others ministers and parliamentarians the approval of a bill reducing the number of weekly working hours from 45 to 40, in congress in Valparaiso, Chile, April 11, 2023. REUTERS/Rodrigo GarridoSANTIAGO, April 11 (Reuters) - Chile's Congress on Tuesday passed a hard-fought bill to gradually cut the work week to 45 hours from 40 hours, a legislative victory for President Gabriel Boric amid faltering popularity. But the work week law - which now awaits Boric's signature - constitutes a small victory for an administration that has been trying to shift the country away from its free-market constitution. The new law mandates one less hour a week of work per year until the work week reaches 40 hours, bringing Chile in line with most industrialized nations. Several companies in Chile have already announced that they will adopt the bill, including state-owned copper giant Codelco, which earlier this year said it would seek to implement the 40- -hour work week by 2026.

☆ BioNTech shares slip on gloomy Covid vaccine sales outlook
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Shares of BioNTech on Monday slid by more than 6% in morning trading after the German drugmaker shared a gloomy 2023 sales outlook for its Covid vaccine jointly developed with Pfizer . The drugmaker expects that demand to fall further this year, forecasting Covid vaccine revenue to hit 5 billion euros, or $5.4 billion. BioNTech noted in an earnings release that its efforts to adapt the Covid vaccine to new strains of the virus are expected to increase demand for the product this year. BioNTech is the latest company to forecast a slump in demand for Covid products as the world emerges from the pandemic. Its partner Pfizer told investors in January that it expects Covid vaccine sales to plummet by 64% this year and sales of its Covid antiviral treatment Paxlovid to drop by 58%.

☆ Pfizer expects 2023 sales to decline by as much as 33% compared with record-breaking 2022
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-31 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Pfizer on Tuesday issued sales guidance of $67 billion to $71 billion for 2023, a decline from its record-breaking 2022 results. The pharmaceutical company booked $100.3 billion for full-year 2022, an all-time high driven by more than $50 billion in Covid vaccine and antiviral sales. Pfizer expects revenue for 2023 to decline up to 33% compared with 2022 as the pandemic eases and demand for its Covid portfolio slides. The company expects $13.5 billion in Covid vaccine sales in 2023 and $8 billion in revenue for Paxlovid. The company booked net income $31.4 billion in 2022, a 43% increase over 2021.

☆ Chile's artisanal fishermen fear die-out as trawling, climate bite
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-22 | by ( Rodrigo Garrido | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The current fishing law, which came into effect in 2013, has faced criticism from lawmakers and fishermen who say it only benefits large fisheries. "Having a new fisheries Law means regaining the confidence of the actors in the sector and the country in the regulation," said Julio Salas, undersecretary of fisheries and aquaculture. Chile has more than 99,557 artisanal fishermen registered in official records, government data show. It could include elements to improve the sustainability of fishing stocks and give larger fishing quotas to small-scale businesses. Rodrigo Gallardo, an artisanal fisherman from the port of Valparaiso, said the practice of trawling needed to end in Chile.

☆ Chile heat wave exacerbates forest fires, causes public health risk
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dozens of people have had to evacuate their homes because of the fires and the capital Santiago is under a public health alert due to a cloud of smoke, officials said on Friday. Among several localities in the Valparaiso region, around 40 homes have been evacuated and a dozen homes have been destroyed. [1/5] A helicopter assists as a wildfire burns parts of the rural areas around Curacavi town outside Santiago, Chile, December 15, 2022. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado 1 2 3 4 5Local authorities issued a public health alert. "What's being done is to monitor the fine and coarser particles to see how this may affect health," Santiago's government representative, Constanza Martinez, told reporters.

☆ Pfizer raises 2022 earnings guidance, beats third-quarter expectations
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Pfizer on Tuesday raised its 2022 earnings guidance after booking a strong third quarter that beat Wall Street expectations. Pfizer raised its full year sales guidance for its Covid-19 vaccine to $34 billion this year, up $2 billion from the company's previous expectations. The company sold $4.4 billion of its Covid vaccine worldwide in the quarter, a decrease of 66% compared to the third-quarter of 2021. Pfizer's antiviral treatment Paxlovid also had a strong quarter, generating $7.5 billion in sales worldwide though mostly in the U.S. Pfizer booked net income of $8.6 billion for the third quarter, a 6% increase over the same quarter last year.

☆ Chilean lawmakers approve Trans-Pacific Partnership
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Chile's Sub Secretary of International Economics Relations Jose Miguel Ahumada shakes hands with Senator Ivan Moreira after the final discussion to vote on the Trans-Pacific Partnership at the National Congress in Valparaiso, Chile October 11, 2022. REUTERS/Rodrigo GarridoSANTIAGO, Oct 11 (Reuters) - Chile's congress voted to approve the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) trade deal on Tuesday after four years of legislative debate. Twenty-seven senators voted for the world's largest copper producer to join the 11-country trade deal while 10 voted against and one senator abstained. The government had said the CPTPP was not part of its program and it would not promote or hinder its passage. The trade deal had become a source of political debate, and protesters against the CPTPP gathered outside the Senate building on Tuesday to oppose the deal.

☆ Chile to issue $12 bln in debt in 2023
▼ + stars: | 2022-09-22 | by ( Rodrigo Campos | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Chile's Finance Minister Mario Marcel speaks to the media at the congress in Valparaiso, Chile March 23, 2022. REUTERS/Rodrigo GarridoNEW YORK, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Chile estimates it will issue $12 billion in total debt next year and the largest budget increases will be in social protection and science and technology, Finance Minister Mario Marcel told Reuters on Thursday. The minister is confident Chile will soon make a dent on inflation, running at double digits. Marcel said clear signals for another moderate constitutional proposal, progress on tax reforms and hopeful pension reforms will help reduce uncertainty. "It should take at least six years to face-in all this increase so as not to have an impact on employment."

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