Nuclear power plant explosion

WASHINGTON — A foreign spy craft miles above the earth. A missile fired to bring it down. A flimsy cover story: just a weather plane! A high-stakes diplomatic meeting ruptured and tense superpower relations inflamed. History, like good television, may not repeat, but sometimes it reaches back to earlier seasons for inspiration. To students of the Cold War, the saga of the Chinese balloon crossing American airspace seemed eerily reminiscent of the U-2 spy plane incident that provoked a tense confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. It was one of the most fraught moments of the four-decade conflict pitting East against West, with enduring consequences. In that case, the nation spying on a rival was the United States, which regularly sent the high-altitude U-2 surveillance planes over Soviet territory confident that they were beyond the reach of Russian surface-to-air missiles — until just such missiles knocked one of its planes out of the sky on May 1, 1960. … [Read more...] about A Foreign Spy Craft. Superpowers on Edge. But It Was 1960, Not 2023.

Firefighters have told of using “heroic” efforts to try and save the two victims of the Cardiff steel blast . The two workers were killed when an explosion ripped through the Celsa Manufacturing plant, which has also left four in hospital. Ian Greenman, of South Wales Fire and Rescue Service, said: “Our crews worked tirelessly but despite heroic efforts we were unable to save two people.” Supt Stephen Jones of South Wales Police confirmed said the priority of officers was the recovery of the workers’ bodies. “Two members of staff were unaccounted for and sadly I can confirm that we have found two bodies. “We’ve informed the families and are continuing to support them at this difficult time. “Our priority at this moment in time is to recover the victims, support their families and carry out an investigation to find out what’s occurred.” Rescue: An ambulance goes to the aid of the injured ( Image: PA) The emergency crews were called out to the plant on … [Read more...] about Firefighters couldn’t save Cardiff steel blast victims despite carrying out “heroic” efforts

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea has scheduled a major political conference to discuss the “urgent task” of improving its agricultural sector, a possible sign of worsening food insecurity as the country's economic isolation deepens amid a defiant nuclear weapons push. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency said Monday that members of the ruling Workers’ Party’s Politburo met on Sunday and agreed to hold a larger plenary meeting of the party’s Central Committee in late February to review strategies on agriculture and set new goals. It said the Politburo members acknowledged a “a turning point is needed to dynamically promote the radical change in agricultural development.” “It is a very important and urgent task to establish the correct strategy for the development of agriculture and take relevant measures for the immediate farming … to promote the overall … [Read more...] about North Korea party meeting set to discuss ‘urgent’ food issue

One of the much looked music awards in the world, Grammy’s are here! The awards are handed over to music artists and musicians with impeccable singing and music composing skills in different categories. And the 65th annual Grammy Awards were handed out Sunday. Trevor Noah returned as host of the ceremony, which took place on Sunday at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The ceremony aired live from 8 -11:30 p.m. ET/5-8:30 p.m. PT on CBS and will be available to stream live and on-demand on Paramount+. During the televised Grammys ceremony, presenters include Viola Davis, first lady Jill Biden, Dwayne Johnson, Cardi B, James Corden, Billy Crystal, Olivia Rodrigo and Shania Twain. The scheduled Grammys performers include Bad Bunny, Mary J. Blige, Brandi Carlile, Luke Combs, Steve Lacy, Lizzo, Kim Petras, Sam Smith and Harry Styles. In addition, Questlove curated the Hip Hop 50 tribute performance. Before the live broadcast, most of the winners in the 91 Grammy categories will be … [Read more...] about Grammys 2023 LIVE: Beyonce Wins 2 Awards; Taylor Swift Beats BTS, Bags Best Music Video

Britain's steel industry risks plunging into “irreversible decline” unless the Tories intervene, MPs warned tonight. A cross-party group has written to Rishi Sunak urging him to back moves to make the sector less polluting. A dozen Labour , Conservative and Welsh and Scottish nationalist Independent MPs have signed the letter, seen exclusively by the Mirror, calling on the Prime Minister to act. The letter warns the PM: “We are concerned that in the absence of government support the UK risks becoming the first G20 economy to see its domestic steel production go into irreversible decline.” Describing steel as “a vital, strategic industry in the UK”, the MPs call on Mr Sunak to “act now to safeguard the future of the industry”. Read More MPs have written to the Prime Minister highlighting the trouble the sector faces ( Image: AFP via Getty Images) The warning comes as 800 jobs hang in the balance at British Steel, and with 440 jobs under threat at Liberty … [Read more...] about UK steel industry on brink of ‘irreversible decline’, MPs warn Rishi Sunak

The next phase of the Ukraine War, a new Russian offensive and a potential Ukrainian counteroffensive, seems all but inevitable for late winter or early spring. The logic of escalation is prevailing, the mutual belief that no peace deal is possible until the other side understands that it can’t win. The Ukrainian hope for how this escalation ends was sketched out by Mykhailo Podolyak, a key adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky, in a recent interview with Bruno Macaes for The New Statesman. “Russia will embark on some minor offensive actions in a short period of time,” Macaes summarizes. “A lot of manpower will be lost. After that, it will face a series of significant defeats.” This will lead to Russian unraveling: Major cities will be lost, some kind of military collapse will follow, and then there will be “uncontrolled political transformation” within the Russian Federation itself. Podolyak doesn’t predict that all of this will happen this spring, suggesting that the timing … [Read more...] about The Costs of a Long War in Ukraine

Since mid-2022, both public and private institutions have been sounding the alarm over the threat drones can pose to people, venues and critical infrastructure. In a little-watched and lowly-reported-on hearing from November 2022, the FBI joined the chorus with the loudest alarm yet: Director Christopher Wray, in testimony to the Senate over domestic threats, revealed that the bureau is investigating several incidents of drones being used with homemade explosives or IEDs inside the U.S. Of course, we don't know when or where these incidents may have occurred, as FBI Director Wray didn't share details of these active investigations. However, we do know that drones have been used to threaten critical assets in the U.S. like power infrastructure as far back as at least 2020; a 2021 report revealed that a Pennsylvania substation had a malicious drone-based incident . Though the attempt failed, it is believed the goal was to disrupt operations or otherwise cause a power outage, … [Read more...] about Confronting Drone Threats: Why New Technology Requires Action

The Treasury has signalled there is no new money for defence despite recognising the urgent need to rearm in the wake of Russia's war in Ukraine, defence sources have said. At the same time, the sources said a "refresh" of UK defence policy - that was meant to inform the spending plans of Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak - could be delayed until after the March budget because an initial draft failed to reflect sufficiently the transformed security environment in Europe, where a land war is raging. "It is not very joined up government," according to one source, who was speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive information. The comments came after Sky News last week revealed that a senior US general had told Defence Secretary Ben Wallace that the British Army is no longer regarded as a top level, or "tier one", fighting force following decades of cuts to its size and strength. Please use Chrome browser for a more accessible video … [Read more...] about Ammunition running out but ‘no new money’ for defence despite war in Ukraine, sources say

Sign up to our free weekly IndyTech newsletter delivered straight to your inbox Sign up to our free IndyTech newsletter A Nasa mission has scanned the inside of an exploded star using polarised X-rays for the first time, giving scientists an unprecedented look at the radioactive corpse of a once giant star. The results show the remnant of a supernova is more chaotic than scientists predicted based on previous observations of the stellar corpse. Nasa’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer or IXPE, launched in 2021 in collaboration with the Italian Space Agency, trained its sensitive polarised X-ray instruments on Cassiopeia A, or Cas A, a glowing cloud of gas left over by a massive star that went supernova in the late 17th century. Found about 11,000 light years away, Cas A was the target for I XPE’s very first image in February, but scientists have now conducted further analysis of the supernova remnant. Powerful magnetic fields in Cas A trap … [Read more...] about Nasa just mapped the corpse of a giant exploded star

On Wednesday, the city of Memphis remembered the life of Tyre Nichols, a young man who was beaten by at least five Memphis police officers and died three days later. Stories like this are terrible, they’re relentless, and they renew one of the most contentious debates in the nation: Are there deep and systemic problems with the American police? How we answer that question isn’t based solely on personal experience or even available data. It often reflects a massive partisan divide, one that reveals how we understand our relationships with the institutions we prize the most — and the least. Every year Gallup releases a survey that measures public confidence in a variety of American institutions, including the police. In 2022, no institution (aside from the presidency) reflected a greater partisan trust gap than the police. A full 67 percent of Republicans expressed confidence in the police, versus only 28 percent of Democrats. Why is that gap so large? While I try to avoid … [Read more...] about ‘Bad Apples’ or Systemic Issues?