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☆ Death toll from devastating Brazil downpours rises to 44
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

SAO PAULO, Feb 21 (Reuters) - The death toll from heavy rains that devastated coastal areas of Brazil's southeastern Sao Paulo state rose to 44 people, according to a state government statement on Tuesday. The city of Sao Sebastiao bore the brunt of the human toll, with 43 reported deaths. [1/5] Firefighters work to find victims in one of the landslides sites after severe rainfall at Barra do Sahy in Sao Sebastiao, Brazil, February 21, 2023. Sao Paulo state Governor Tarcisio de Freitas said the Navy would build a field hospital for victims starting Thursday. The deluge happened as tourists thronged to Brazil's beaches during the annual Carnival holiday, likely making the human toll much worse.

☆ Explosion rocks Ohio factory, scattering molten metal; 14 injured
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Daniel Trotta | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/3] Firefighters stand around the rubble at the I. Schumann & Co. metals plant after an explosion at the factory in Bedford, Ohio, U.S., February 20, 2023. REUTERS/Aaron JosefczykFeb 20 (Reuters) - An explosion tore through an Ohio metals plant on Monday, scattering molten metal and debris that rained down on neighboring buildings and injuring at least 14 people, mostly with burns, officials and witnesses said. The explosion at the I. Schumann & Co. metals plant in Bedford drew fire departments from throughout northeast Ohio. All of those injured were on site, the falling debris having spared those at neighboring businesses, DiRocco said. We went out front and there was like smoldering rocks and molten metal in the yard.

☆ A typical home in Vail, Colorado, is over $1 million, leaving workers with few living options. 4 people take us inside their housing crisis as home prices in tourist towns across the country spike.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-20 | by ( Robert Davis | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Vail is among the most expensive Colorado housing markets, with a median home price over $1 million. Weibel's struggle to find affordable housing in Vail speaks to similar issues playing out in other ski towns like Jackson, Wyoming, and Park City, Utah. In her spare time, Weibel works part time as a babysitter, a summer-school tutor, and a ski instructor at Vail Resorts. Getty ImagesSam Stevens, 25, has seen firsthand how Vail's expensive housing market is straining the town's budget for important infrastructure projects. He eventually moved in with one of his friends in Eagle-Vail, about 8 miles west of the Vail Ski Resort.

☆ Tesla driver killed, passenger injured after crashing into parked fire truck on California freeway
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( Aaron Mcdade | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +2 min

A Tesla hit a fire truck that was parked and blocking lanes on a California freeway early Saturday morning. The driver was killed, one passenger was hospitalized, and four firefighters were treated for minor injuries. The driver was pronounced dead on the scene, and a passenger and four firefighters who were in the truck were transported to a hospital, the department said. The condition of the passenger is unknown, and the firefighters were treated for minor injuries, according to the Associated Press. Tesla and the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District did not immediately respond to Insider's request to comment.

Police officers involved in the deaths have become an intense focus of investigation, protest, and media coverage. Despite being at the heart of some of the most defining incidents in modern policing, most of the officers involved continue to live their lives under the radar. Insider's review of 72 cops involved in two dozen of the most notorious police killings of the past 30 years shows the many different paths officers have taken. There's no nationwide view into what happens to officers involved in egregious incidents of violence. In rare cases, cops involved in these killings have tried to publicly rehabilitate their image rather than seek out anonymity.

☆ Tesla driver dies after fire truck crash in California
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Feb 18 (Reuters) - A Tesla driver in California died early on Saturday after crashing into a fire truck on an interstate highway, the fire department said. U.S. regulators are investigating Tesla vehicles with the Autopilot driver assistance system over a string of crashes with parked emergency vehicles. loadingThe department said the truck had been blocking lanes of I-680 after a previous accident. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said on Thursday its investigation, opened in 2021, "into Tesla’s Autopilot and associated vehicle systems remains open and active." It is reviewing whether Tesla vehicles adequately ensure drivers are paying attention.

☆ Lebanese depositors smash up, burn Beirut banks
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Mohamed AzakirBEIRUT, Feb 16 (Reuters) - Several dozen Lebanese protesters attacked banks in a Beirut neighbourhood on Thursday, while blocking roads protesting against informal restrictions on cash withdrawals in place for years and rapidly deteriorating economic conditions. At least six banks had been targeted as the Lebanese pound hit a new record low on Thursday, a spokesperson for Depositors Outcry, a lobby representing depositors with money stuck in the country's banking sector, said. Since 2019, Lebanese banks have imposed restrictions on withdrawals in U.S. dollars and Lebanese pounds that were never formalised by law, leading depositors to seek access to their funds through lawsuits and often by force. The Lebanese pound has lost more than 98% of its value since the country's financial sector imploded in 2019. It was changing hands at around 80,000 pounds per greenback on Thursday, dropping from 70,000 pounds just two days earlier.

CNN —The first tool that mechanic trainees at Maryland’s Vehicles for Change program pick up is not a wrench, but a pair of virtual reality goggles. The virtual-first training program is an unconventional solution to a real-world problem: a significant shortage of qualified automotive technicians. Maryland's Vehicles for Change program is using VR to help train more mechanics and address a nationwide mechanics shortage. In the early days of the pandemic, doctors and nurses used VR to train for treating patients with Covid-19. And some schools have used VR to expand the classroom beyond its physical walls, particularly as demand for remote education exploded during the pandemic.

☆ Cyclone Gabrielle causes havoc in New Zealand, firefighter missing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Lucy Craymer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

WELLINGTON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - A New Zealand firefighter is missing after a house slid down a hill in a beachside town near Auckland, as Cyclone Gabrielle pounds the country causing flooding, landslides and huge waves. Gabrielle, had been sitting 100 km (62 miles) northeast of Auckland over some small islands and is now moving southwest. The cyclone has brought heavy rain, flooding and gale force winds across the North Island and forced the evacuation of many beach settlements. States of emergency are in place in Auckland and seven other regions. Reporting by Lucy Craymer; Editing by Alex RichardsonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A Delta flight had to make an emergency landing just 60 miles after takeoff when flames shot out from under its wing
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Grace Dean | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

A Delta trans-Atlantic flight made an emergency landing near Glasgow on Friday after flames erupted from a wing. One passenger told local news that there was a "banging noise" and then the plane "nose-dived." The flight was "safely diverted to Glasgow Prestwick Airport after a mechanical issue with one of the aircraft's two engines," a Delta spokesperson told Insider. BBC Scotland News reporter Laura Pettigrew, who was on the flight, told the BBC that the plane's engine made loud noises during the flight. Fire trucks and firefighters rushed towards the plane when it landed down at Glasgow Prestwick, she said.

☆ Children among those pulled from destroyed buildings in Turkey
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-12 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Time was running out to reach trapped victims alive under the rubble, but emergency crews were still finding survivors on Sunday. Also in Hatay, rescuers pulled a small child from the rubble of a collapsed building. In central Hatay, a man and his five-year-old daughter Emira were also recovered alive from a destroyed building. Video released by the Kocaeli Municipality on Sunday showed rescuers talking to Emira and her father while they were still trapped under debris. CNN Turk showed rescue workers carrying her to an ambulance as she waved, strapped into a stretcher and wearing a neck brace.

☆ Fact Check-Video is unrelated to Turkey earthquake, shows cat being rescued in Russia in 2018
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A video of a cat being rescued from a fire in Volgograd, Russia in 2018 is being shared as if it shows a cat being rescued from the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023. Huge earthquakes struck Turkey and Syria, with a death toll that has surpassed 21,000 as of Friday here. Every life is important #Turkey #Syria #TurkeyQuake #TurkeySyriaEarthquake.”A reverse Google Images search of keyframes in the video revealed the same video shared by Russian broadcaster V1.RU on YouTube (here) on Feb. 26, 2018. A similar looking cat named Strawberry was recently rescued in Turkey’s Hatay province, as reported by Reuters (here). The video shows a cat being rescued from a fire in Volgograd, Russia in 2018.

☆ Fact Check-Clip of cat rescued after a 2020 Turkish earthquake resurfaces
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Reuters Fact Check | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

A video showing firefighters rescuing a cat after an earthquake hit the Turkish city of Izmir in 2020 has been widely recirculated following the devastating quake that struck Turkey and neighboring Syria on Feb. 6. Four kittens were rescued from the rubble of a collapsed apartment complex following an earthquake, according to the posts. On Oct. 30, a strong quake struck the western city of Izmir and a Greek island, killing at least 116 people, Reuters reported (here). Reuters coverage of the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria, the death toll of which stood at above 19,000 on Thursday, can be found at (here). This clip shows a cat rescue following an earthquake that struck Turkey on Oct. 30, 2020.

☆ NTSB finds no evidence Tesla Autopilot used in fatal 2021 Texas crash
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Lora Kolodny | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The National Transportation Safety Board has concluded an investigation into a fatal Tesla crash that occurred in Spring, Texas in 2021. The federal vehicle safety watchdog found no evidence the company's driver assistance system, which is marketed as Tesla Autopilot, was in use at the time of the crash. The crash initially drew widespread attention after a local constable said nobody was behind the wheel at the time of the crash. The NTSB relied on data from Tesla, a sample vehicle and versions of software provided by Tesla, to conduct part of its investigation. If the Tesla had been equipped with systems like this, the NTSB said, the trip and fatal crash may have been prevented.

☆ White House economist Jared Bernstein defends Biden's billionaire tax outlined in State of the Union
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Chelsey Cox | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

A top White House economist defended tax proposals aimed at the wealthiest Americans outlined by President Joe Biden during his second State of the Union address. Bernstein also defended the president's tax rate on capital gains, which he initially proposed in 2021. The tax rate would apply to those earning over $1 million. "You called it a wealth tax on unrealized gains," Bernstein said of the capital gains tax proposal. "In fact, what it really is, or at least the way we see, it is a prepayment or withholding tax on future capital gains."

☆ Chilean wildfires destroy hundreds of homes, endanger world's smallest deer
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( Ivan Alvarado | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"We call on everyone who can to take care of the forests which are currently on fire, and also of our animals, specimens of vital importance," said Valentina Aravena, the manager at a wildlife rehabilitation center in Chillan. Late on Wednesday, Interior Minister Carolina Toha said the government would declare a curfew in some provinces starting on Thursday. In the rehabilitation center in Chillan, the capital of the Ñuble region, veterinarians treated burns on animals native to the woodlands, such as monito del monte, a small nocturnal marsupial, and pudus, the world's smallest deer. [1/7] A Pudu, the world's smallest deer, rescued from a wildfire, receives care from vets at a wildlife rehabilitation center of Concepcion University, as wildfires continue in the central-southern zone of Chile, in Chillan, Chile, February 8, 2023. A day earlier, a Chilean minister warned that high temperatures forecast for this week could further complicate the situation.

☆ Anti-abortion activist climbs Arizona's tallest building
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Brendan O'Brien | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/3] Maison Deschamps climbs Chase Tower in Phoenix, Arizona, U.S. February 7, 2023 in this still image taken from social media video. Jim Wyatt/via REUTERSFeb 7 (Reuters) - An anti-abortion activist scaled the 40-story Chase Tower in downtown Phoenix on Tuesday, local media reported, days before the area hosts Super Bowl LVII. "This is a stupid, stupid move. It is unclear if Des Champs was taken into custody. Des Champs, who appeared to have scaled the Chase Tower without ropes, has been arrested several times over the last year after climbing buildings in Los Angeles, Oklahoma City and San Francisco.

☆ Biden to revisit 'billionaire minimum tax' in State of the Union address
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-07 | by ( Kate Dore | Cfp | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Win Mcnamee | Getty ImagesPresident Joe Biden will again call for a "billionaire minimum tax" during his State of the Union address on Tuesday. However, Biden's original billionaire minimum tax didn't gain traction in Congress and it's even less likely to happen with a Republican-controlled House now, experts say. I view this billionaire minimum income tax as a messaging bill to highlight some of the problems with our tax code. "I don't see a lot of support for Biden's billionaire minimum tax on the Hill," Rosenthal said. Problems with the billionaire minimum taxEven with more support, Biden's billionaire minimum tax may face other hurdles, experts say.

☆ Chile battles deadliest wildfires on record as heatwave grips
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-06 | by ( Fabian Cambero | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/5] Trees can be seen after a wildfire burned areas in Santa Juana, near Concepcion, Chile, February 5, 2023. REUTERS/Juan GonzalezSANTIAGO, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Chilean firefighters were battling to hold back forest fires on Monday as authorities said hot and dry weather would continue this week, potentially exacerbating what are already the deadliest blazes in the country's recent history. The state National Forestry Corporation reported that as of Monday morning there were 275 active fires, of which 69 were currently in combat. The heat wave and strong winds have caused a rapid spread of the flames during the Southern Hemisphere summer season. Reuters GraphicsReporting by Fabian Andres Cambero; Editing by Caitlin WebberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ At least 24 dead in Chile as wildfires expand; foreign help on the way
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-05 | by ( Fabian Cambero | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

International help was set to arrive on Sunday from a handful of countries that have pledged resources, including planes and expert firefighting teams, as the most intense wildfires torched forests and farmland clustered around three regions near the middle of the South American country's long Pacific coastline. The government of President Gabriel Boric has issued emergency declarations for the largely rural southern regions of Biobio, Nuble and Araucania in an effort to speed relief. The fires have consumed some 270,000 hectares, officials said on Sunday, or an area roughly the size of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. Some 260 fires are active across the parched region, interior ministry officials said on Sunday, with 28 of them considered especially dangerous. Chilean officials have sought international assistance to battle the fires, with new ones sparking to life each day.

☆ Firefighters battle dozens of wildfires in Chile, death toll at 22
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-04 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SANTIAGO, Feb 4 (Reuters) - Dozens of wildfires blazing though Chile caused the government to extend an emergency order to another region on Saturday, as a scorching summer heatwave complicates efforts to control fires that have claimed at least 22 lives so far. On Friday, an emergency-support helicopter in La Araucania crashed, killing its pilot and a mechanic, according to officials. The orders allow for the deployment of soldiers and additional resources to deal with the natural disaster. National forestry agency CONAF reported on Saturday that 80 of 231 total wildfires are being actively battled, while 151 of them are under control. Reporting by Fabian Cambero and Natalia Ramos Miranda Editing by Marguerita ChoyOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ A laid-off Meta worker says she's struggling after not getting the 16 weeks of severance her fellow employees received: 'I'm going through my kids' closet and selling their old clothes'
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( Jason Lalljee | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +7 min

Meta employees who were laid off at the end of last year received 16 weeks or more of severance pay. In addition to those four months of pay, employees were offered two additional weeks of severance for every year at the company, with no limit. Those workers received fewer weeks of severance and insurance than other Meta employees — they were given only the amount of pay necessary to comply with federal law. Beyond that, Levy told Insider that she wasn't offered any other severance pay, only three months of health insurance. But she's in a tough spot with limited severance pay, and she said that the $450 ceiling for unemployment benefits in California is not keeping up with the cost of living.

☆ How do you lose a radioactive capsule? Australian investigators are wondering too
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-02 | by ( Hilary Whiteman | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +8 min

Brisbane, Australia CNN —The discovery of a tiny lost radioactive capsule beside a remote highway in Western Australia raises many questions – not least how it escaped layers of radiation-proof packaging loaded onto a moving truck. Under the Radiation Safety Act 1975, only specially trained and licensed operators can package radioactive substances, but different rules apply to contractors hired to transport it, Steen said. “Any transport company can transport radioactive material provided they have got the license to do so,” she said. Staff from the National Emergency Management Agency, the Australian Nuclear and Science Technology Organization and the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency also took part. This time, it traveled in a convoy of enclosed white vehicles – with big stickers warning of the presence of a radioactive substance.

☆ Britain hit by biggest strike in more than a decade with schools shut and rail networks disrupted
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Such widespread strike action has not taken place since a dispute over public sector pay in 2011, when more than a million workers are estimated to have taken industrial action. watch nowDemands vary by union but include inflation-beating pay rises, including to redress historic real-terms pay falls; pensions reform; and no cuts in redundancy terms. Postal workers have also been on strike, and firefighters have voted for future strike action. Average pay excluding bonuses rose by 2.7% in the public sector between August and October, as inflation rose above 10%. That compared with a 6.9% pay increase in the private sector, according to national statistics.

☆ UK set for biggest strike action in years as teachers, civil servants walk out
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-01 | by ( Michael Holden | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

On Wednesday, about 300,000 teachers will take action, along with 100,000 civil servants from more than 120 government departments, and tens of thousands of university lecturers and rail workers. 'MOST DAYS LOST FOR 30 YEARS'Between June and November, more days were lost to industrial action than in any six months for over 30 years, according to official data. An Ipsos poll released on Wednesday suggested the public was divided on the multiple strike action, with 40% supporting the action and 38% opposed. It put the estimated impact of the teachers' strikes at about 20 million pounds a day. ($1 = 0.8130 pound)Reporting by Michael Holden, Alistair Smout and William Schomberg; editing by Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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