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Lake Mead is at risk of "catastrophic collapse" if nothing is done to reduce water use at the manmade reservoir that straddles the Arizona/Nevada border, U.S. government officials have warned. Water levels are forecast to drop further before the end of August and measures have been unveiled to minimize damage to the ecosystem and the strain on local communities. According to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, Lake Mead's water is 1,042.38 feet above sea level, as of August 16. The USBR predicts the water level will drop to 1,042.35 feet before September. Longer-term USBR forecasts suggest the water level will decline to 1,019 feet by August 2023 and 1,013 feet in July 2024. The USBR is asking people to use as little water as possible and has announced that the reservoir—the largest in the U.S.—will operate under its first Level 2a Shortage Condition in 2023. This means downstream releases from the Hoover Dam will be reduced in 2023 to Arizona, Nevada and Mexico. California's … [Read more...] about Lake Mead water use reductions essential to stop “catastrophic collapse”

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 6 NEW YORK (AP) — Take my chard, please! The season has come when many home gardeners, their numbers booming since the pandemic began, are being rewarded with fully matured, ready-to-pick vegetables and flowers. It’s also vacation season, and this summer travel is back. How do you maintain your garden and take advantage of all that homegrown goodness during extended trips away? Even experienced gardeners can end up with more tomatoes, beans and zucchini than they’d expected come late summer. Garden sitters are one answer. Some home gardeners hire professionals, while many just rely on neighbors and hope for the best. “It’s really hard to leave the garden,” said Theresa Fiumano-Rhatigan, a longtime home gardener in Brooklyn. She relies on her parents and other nearby relatives as garden sitters during her five weeks each summer in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. … [Read more...] about For hire or food, garden sitters save the day during summer

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 TALLINN, Estonia (AP) — Estonia’s foreign minister on Thursday defended his country’s decision to bar Russian tourists, saying they are shirking their “moral responsibility” to stand up to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s regime and its “genocidal war” in Ukraine. The small Baltic country, which shares a 300-kilometer (190-mile) border with Russia, stopped issuing tourist visas to Russians months ago, and as of Thursday no longer accepts those previously issued. “Our idea is to give a signal to all our European partners, all our Western community partners, to close down our borders to Russian citizens, except humanitarian cases,” Foreign Minister Urmas Reinsalu told The Associated Press in an interview in Tallinn. “Russian citizens are not welcome in Europe. Their country is committing a genocidal war against an innocent people.” Despite bans on air travel from … [Read more...] about Estonian minister defends visa ban against Russian tourists

This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 5 LONDON (AP) — In February 2021, actors Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney took over Wrexham Association Football Club, a small team from the north of Wales, and now they’re releasing a documentary about their journey. “Welcome to Wrexham,” which premieres on FX on Aug. 24, begins with the initial late-night conversation between the actors where the idea was formed, and fast forwards to them standing with the club’s fans in the terraces cheering on the team they now co-own. Wrexham are the third oldest football team in the world and play in the English National League, the fifth tier of professional soccer. The show hops from Hollywood to Wales, from pitch to pub, with two of Hollywood’s biggest stars hoping to bring footballing success back to the town. Reynolds has fallen head-over-heels in love with the beautiful game — so much so that he schedules his life around … [Read more...] about How a pair of Hollywood stars powered a Welsh soccer team

WORLD INFORMATION SOCIETY AND TELECOMMUNICATION DAY 2022: In a world where metaverse is actually a thing, no convincing is required that the digital paradigm is dominating enough to be considered a reality now. If you agree, you would also agree that like we need security in the real world, similarly, our digital presence also requires protection. Connected through various portals such as phones, computers, and other tech devices to the internet, it is imperative for us to give special consideration to security. By keeping a few things in mind, we can keep our digital identity, our data, protected from harmful malware and viruses. On the World Information Society and Telecommunication Day this year, on May 17, here are five ways you can keep your smartphone safe from hackers and malware. Keep Your Device Updated Tech companies, time and again, introduce updates to their devices to keep their guards relevant in this fast-paced world. Bug fixes, security updates, and software … [Read more...] about World Information Society and Telecommunication Day 2022: Here’s How to Keep Your Smartphone Safe From Hackers and Malwares

As reports of a suspicious boat with guns, bullets, and explosives being found off the Raigad coast in Maharashtra emerged on Thursday, a familiar fear coursed through the district and neighbouring areas, including Mumbai. On March 12, 1993, a series of bomb blasts brought India’s financial capital, then known as Bombay, to a wailing stop. Twelve bombs went off within a span of two hours and ten minutes that rocked several parts of the city, killing over 250 people. The explosions were the first large-scale coordinated terror attack to be carried out in the world and were the first terror attack where RDX was used as an explosive. Between 1:29 pm and 3:40 pm, a series of well-planned blasts ripped through the commercial and most crowded spots across the city. An over 150-member team of the Mumbai police force cracked the case within 48 hours. Set up under the order of Rakesh Maria, the then deputy commissioner of police, they discovered an abandoned scooter in Mahim. It … [Read more...] about Raigad Redux? Boat with Weapons Surfaces in Maharashtra, along with Memories of 1993 Blasts

The government is reviewing the policy to ban manufacturing and sale of codeine-based cough syrups after several MPs raised concerns that they are being used as narcotic drugs than as medicine. Codeine is an opioid-based analgesic, mostly used to treat coughing, pain and diarrhoea, and it is one of the natural plant alkaloids found in extracts of opium. Based on the request by several politicians to health minister Mansukh Mandaviya to ban cough syrups, a copy of which was accessed by News18.com, the health ministry had asked the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) in March to “conduct a review and submit recommendation”. Recently, the DCGI has submitted its review to the health ministry. “The top selling brands using codeine are Pfizer’s Corex, Abbott’s Phensedyl and Laborate Pharmaceuticals’ Eskuf among a few others,” the government official privy to the development said, adding that “the states where the consumption of these syrups is high include Uttar Pradesh, … [Read more...] about Sale of Codeine-Based Cough Syrups May Go Through Tough Regulatory Rules After MPs Raise Concerns

Click here to read the full article. In today’s podcast news roundup, Dana Carvey and David Spade will be back for a second season of “Fly on the Wall,” revisiting iconic moments from “Saturday Night Live”; Apple Podcasts unveils two new charts for subscriptions; George R.R. Martin talks up “House of Dragon”; and more. RENEWALS Audacy’s Cadence13 extended its partnership with comedians Dana Carvey and David Spade , renewing their “Saturday Night Live”-focused podcast series “Fly on the Wall” for a second season, slated to launch in January 2023. On the weekly show, Carvey and Spade sit down with fellow “SNL” alums and present cast, as well as hosts, writers and musical guests to talk about their favorite moments from the late-night variety show. Guests on Season 1, which premiered in January 2022, have included Chris Rock — whose comments about his experience with childhood bullying went viral in the wake of Will Smith slapping Rock on stage at the Oscars … [Read more...] about David Spade and Dana Carvey’s ‘SNL’ Look-Back Show ‘Fly on the Wall’ Renewed for Season 2 (Podcast News Roundup)

CHIANG RAI, Thailand — The death of a former Thai navy SEAL early Friday during the rescue operation to save a boys' soccer team trapped in a flooded cave was the latest setback for a mission fraught with danger as officials raced against worsening weather. Saman Kunan, 38, fell unconscious underwater and died around 1 a.m. local time as he attempted to return from placing air tanks deep inside the underground complex. A fellow diver tried to revive him but was unsuccessful. "The conditions in the cave are tough," Adm. Apakorn Yuukongkaew, commander of the SEALs unit, told reporters on Friday. "Once he placed the oxygen tanks he became unconscious on his way back. His buddy tried to administer first aid, when there was no response he tried to move him," Apakorn added. "We won't let his life be in vain. We will carry on." Inside the flooded Thai cave complex where kids are trapped July 6, 2018 00:53 Authorities have raised concerns … [Read more...] about Thai diver dies amid cave rescue of trapped soccer team

Nine days. That's how long 12 boys and their soccer coach were missing, believed to be trapped in a flooded cave in northern Thailand, presumably stuck without food or drinking water or much by way of survival gear, and almost certainly scared for their lives. But rescue teams refused to give up. And on Monday, after nine long and arduous days, the boys and their coach were found alive in the cave — a godsend for their anxious families and joyous news for a country that had been riveted to televisions and social media, desperate for updates. Watch moment rescuers find missing soccer team alive inside cave July 2, 2018 00:35 The discovery was the culmination of an evidently painstaking operation involving Thai navy SEAL divers, a U.S. military team, British cave experts, Chinese first responders, and volunteer workers from countries around the world. It was, by all accounts, a challenging mission laden with setbacks. The divers, … [Read more...] about How search-and-rescue crews found the missing Thai boys soccer team