Explosions slow motion

More than 200 people lost their lives in the massive explosion in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on August 4, 2020. More than 6,000 others were injured and 300,000 lost their homes. The damages were enormous and rebuilding efforts are sluggish. According to the World Bank, between $1.8 and $2.2 billion (€1.5 billion and €1.8 billion) will be needed  just for the most essential work. The blast came at a terrible time for the country. Lebanon hit economic rock bottom before the blast, and then came the coronavirus pandemic. It's feared that the country will have to default again on its international obligations. What stage is the investigation at? According to the NGO Human Rights Watch, the Lebanese authorities have been negligent in their investigation of the causes of the catastrophic explosion at Beirut's port in August. Over the six months since then, they have continued to keep the public in the dark and have been anything but forthcoming with regard to details or … [Read more...] about Beirut blast: Investigation slow to find answers

A Covid-19 test centre was hit by an explosion in the Netherlands early today in an area which has suffered a surge in coronavirus cases, as anger grows over the country's lockdown measures. Police said the building in the town of Bovenkarspel appeared to be the target of a deliberate attack after 'something metal' exploded outside the testing centre, weeks after a nationwide curfew led to riots in major Dutch cities. 'What we're saying is that something like that doesn't just happen by accident, it has to be laid,' police spokesman Menno Hartenberg said after the blast shortly before 7am on Wednesday. Nobody was injured, but windows were shattered and the site was cordoned off for a bomb squad to investigate. The town of Bovenkarspel, shown on this map of the Netherlands, saw an explosion at a Covid-19 testing facility today The explosion at a testing centre on Wednesday comes weeks after several consecutive nights of rioting against lockdown measures … [Read more...] about Dutch Covid-19 test centre is hit by explosion as fury over country’s lockdown measures grows

POLICE have declared a major incident after mystery underground explosions and tremors forced 25 homes to be evacuated in a Devon town. Devon and Cornwall Police were called to reports of possible explosions from a suspected gas leak or electrical shortage coming from under the road in Church Street, Kingsbridge, at 11.50am. Church Street has been closed and around 25 people from properties in the area have been evacuated, with temporary shelter being arranged. Police confirmed this morning that one person has been taken to hospital following the ordeal. The fire service are "currently investigating small underground fire involving low voltage power cable", they said in the latest update this afternoon. Over 100 properties in the town were left without power - while fire crews from three stations attended the incident as efforts were made to make the area safe. A force spokeswoman said: "No injuries have been reported. "Fire, police and engineers from both gas … [Read more...] about Mystery underground explosions force 25 homes to be evacuated as ‘major incident’ declared in Devon

Radioactive carbon created as a by-product of nuclear bomb tests has reached the deepest parts of the ocean — and is ending up inside marine creatures. This finding by Chinese researchers shows just how quickly human pollution can enter the food chain and find its way down to the deep ocean. However, this bomb carbon is helping scientists to learn more about how marine life manages to get by in such cold, dark, deep and nutrient-poor environments. They found that tiny marine crustaceans can live far longer than their shallow water counterparts and grow to a much larger size. This is likely because the animals have evolved extremely slow metabolisms as an adaptation to living in the extreme conditions found in deep oceanic trenches. Scroll down for video Radioactive carbon created as a by-product of past nuclear bomb tests (pictured, stock image) has reached the deepest parts of the ocean — and is ending up inside marine creatures Researchers led by Chinese … [Read more...] about Traces of nuclear bomb tests have reached the deepest part of the ocean as scientists find evidence of the explosions in animals living in the Mariana Trench

Sir Richard Henriques says confidence in the criminal justice system has been 'gravely damaged' by the failure to hold officers to account following the disastrous VIP child abuse inquiry A retired High Court judge today urges the Home Secretary to order an independent criminal investigation into five detectives at the centre of the 'Nick' scandal – and the watchdogs who cleared them. In an open letter to Priti Patel , Sir Richard Henriques says confidence in the criminal justice system has been 'gravely damaged' by the failure to hold officers to account following the disastrous VIP child abuse inquiry. He adds that the 'apparent condoning of police criminality by its notional watchdog, will inevitably give rise to allegations of political manipulation of the police', 'an orchestrated cover-up' and 'corruption at the highest level'. Sir Richard spoke out after Leon Brittan's widow attacked a 'culture of cover-up and flick away' at the Metropolitan Police in an interview … [Read more...] about Judge demands probe into Scotland Yard: Ex-law chief writes explosive letter to Priti Patel over the police probe into false ‘VIP paedophile ring’ claims