Afrogalaxy

Saudi Post issued a commemorative stamp and a card to coincide with the Kingdom’s 88th National Day and its founding by the late King Abdulaziz, reported the Saudi Press Agency.
The stamp was issued in three riyals and the card in five riyals, and featured pictures of famous architectural landmarks in the Kingdom.
They also include logos of a number of mega projects that have been implemented or are currently being implemented, such as Neom, Riyadh Railway Project, Vision 2030, National Transition Program 2020, Digital Transformation Unit, Public Investment Fund, and the 2018 Hajj Season logo.
Saudi Post publishes postal stamps periodically and seasonally for national and religious events, festivals, Hajj seasons, Islamic, Arab and Gulf summits and major conferences, as well as national cultural, artistic and sports participations to recognize Saudi Arabia’s achievements in all fields.
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/40020

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MONTREAL: Search and rescue workers were actively seeking Sunday a German pop star who went missing while on a cruise off Canada’s coast, the Royal Canadian...Continue Reading on Geezgo

Turkish President extends warm wishes to the Jewish community celebrating Rosh Hashanah in Turkey and around the world. Elad Benari, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on...Continue Reading on Geezgo

A London-based research team has just published a six-page list of resources for domestic abuse victims who’ve been targeted through smart home gadgets that are controlled by their partners. In some cases, a domestic abuser can remotely control internet-connected home appliances using their phone, such as a smart thermostat, causing these devices to seemingly malfunction or become disabled with no probable cause.

The six-page document includes a number of blogs, written works, and organizations to contact that are intended to both inform victims of current research and it give pointers on how to deal with technology that might be used to abuse or harass them. The resource list also seeks to tackle any discrepancies in smart home knowledge between victims and their abusers, by providing information needed to not only understand how these smart homes work, but also how to make one’s home life less vulnerable to digital threats.

The document was assembled by several teams of researchers and advocates working on the intersection of domestic violence and digital surveillance, including the Gender and Internet of Things (G-IoT) team at the University College of London, the London Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) Consortium, Privacy International, and the PETRAS IoT Research Hub.

The document comes on the tails of last month’s New York Times report detailing real-world examples of domestic abusers who’ve weaponized smart home technology — like internet-connected lights, locks, and doorbells — to psychologically harass their partners. Though the resource list was created this month, the authors claim that it will be regularly updated.
Shoshana Wodinsky
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29461

Rescue teams thrashed through dense forest hundreds of meters above a cave complex on Friday, searching for an alternative way to extract 12 boys and their soccer coach trapped inside for nearly two weeks.
Their work above the Tham Luang cave near Thailand’s northern border with Myanmar took on added urgency as forecasts for rain threatened a plan to bring the boys back through cramped, water-logged passageways to the cave entrance.

“We want to find the way down. I believe we are close,” Thanes Weerasiri, president of the Engineering Institute of Thailand, told Reuters at a makeshift camp for volunteers and media near the cave.

Helicopters buzzed overhead before flying to the dense blanket of green hills above the cave to help look for an alternate extraction route.

Rescue efforts since British divers found the team on Monday have focused on draining the flooded cave and teaching the boys – some of whom are as young as 11 and not competent swimmers – to attempt dives that would challenge expert cavers.
The death of a former Thai Navy SEAL working in the flooded cave on Friday has shaken the rescue mission, and forecasts for more rain could undermine the draining of the cave, forcing officials to consider other options.

Thanes’ engineers are working with the army to explore an area they believe to be the back end of the cave, chiselling away fragile limestone rocks that he said could be just hundreds of meters from where the boys are trapped.

“Originally we were exploring it as a way to bring supplies to the children from the back end of the cave, but now it could become more,” said Thanes.

Chalongchai Chaiyakum, a senior Thai army officer, said that one team traveled some 300 meters down a shaft on the hill on Thursday until they reached a dead end.

He said that up to 200 people are exploring the hill to try to find a workable shaft.
MUSK OFFERS HELP

The muddy bank where the boys are stranded is some 4 km (2.5 miles) from the front entrance of the cave, with sections of the final 1.7-km stretch completely underwater.

Drilling down raises concerns that parts of the cave could collapse on the boys. Efforts to widen diving channels, have raised similar fears about blocking narrow passageways and hemming the team in.

Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk tweeted on Friday that engineers from his firms - SpaceX and The Boring Company - were heading to Thailand to see if they could assist the rescue.

The firms have “advance ground penetrating radar” that is “pretty good at digging holes” or technology that could “create an air tunnel underwater” for the children to traverse, Musk said earlier.

The Thai government said Musk’s team could help the rescue operation with location tracking, water pumping or battery power.

Relatives of the boys, some of whom have camped at the site for weeks, say all they want is the safest exit for their children.

“I’m worried...he has never dived,” said Somboon Kaewwongwan, the father of a 16-year-old boy trapped in the cave.
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29387

Shoko Asahara, the leader of Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult which carried out a deadly nerve gas attack on the Tokyo underground in 1995, has been executed, Japanese media report.

Shoko Asahara, former leader of secretive sect Aum Supreme Truth, in 1990.

Shoko Asahara, former leader of secretive sect Aum Supreme Truth, in 1990. Photo: AFP

The sarin attack, Japan's worst terror incident, killed 13 people and injured thousands more.

Seven other Aum Shinrikyo members are also awaiting execution.

The executions had been postponed until all those convicted had completed their final appeals.

That happened in January.

On 20 March 1995, cult members released the sarin on the subway in the Japanese capital. They left punctured bags filled with liquid nerve agent on train lines going through Tokyo's political district.

Witnesses described noticing the leaking packages and soon afterwards feeling stinging fumes hitting their eyes.

The toxin struck victims down in a matter of seconds, leaving them chocking and vomiting, some blinded and paralysed. Thirteen people died.

In the following months, members of the cult carried out several failed attempts at releasing hydrogen cyanide in various stations.

The attack shocked Japan, a country that prided itself on low crime rates and social cohesion.

Scores of Aum members have faced trial over the attack - 13 were sentenced to death, including Asahara.

Another six are serving life sentences.

The cult, whose name means "supreme truth", began in the 1980s as a spiritual group mixing Hindu and Buddhist beliefs, later working in elements of apocalyptic Christian prophesies.

The group's founder, Shoko Asahara, also known as Chizuo Matsumoto, declared himself to be both Christ and the first "enlightened one" since Buddha.

Aum Shinrikyo gained official status as a religious organisation in Japan in 1989 and picked up a sizable global following. At its peak, Asahara had tens of thousands of followers worldwide.

The group gradually became a paranoid doomsday cult, convinced the world was about to end in a global war and that only they would survive.

The cult went underground after the 1995 attack, but did not disappear, eventually renaming itself Aleph or Hikari no Wa.

Aum Shinrikyo is designated a terrorist organisation in the US and many other countries, but Aleph and Hikari no Wa are both legal in Japan, although designated as "dangerous religions" subject to surveillance.

It still has followers both in Japan and also worldwide, in particular in some former Eastern Bloc countries.

In 2016, police in Russia conducted a number of raids on suspected cult members in Moscow and St Petersburg.

In Japan, death sentences are not carried out until the verdict against all accused and accomplices are final, with no pending appeals left against any of the group.

The trials against the cult members only wrapped up in January this year after the supreme court upheld the verdict against one member sentenced to life in prison.

Since an effective moratorium ended in 2010, Japan has executed as many as eight people a year.

The death penalty is only used for serious cases of murder and is carried out by hanging.
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29323

After it was viciously gutted last month, many observers thought California’s net neutrality bill was a lost cause. But today, lawmakers announced that they’d reached an agreement to ensure that the legislation will move forward after all, and include tough regulatory provisions.

Introduced in the wake of the FCC’s rollback of net neutrality provisions, SB 822 and SB 460 reinstated the net neutrality rules outlined in the 2015 Open Internet Order, banned harmful zero-rating programs, and prohibited broadband providers from charging websites access fees.

But before they could be passed into law, the bills were gutted in the Communications and Conveyance Committee. The chairman of the committee, Assemblyman Miguel Santiago, broke standard procedure and forced a vote on a set of amendments that stripped the legislation of what would have been the toughest ISP rules in the country.

The amendments were disclosed on the eve of the committee vote, and railroaded through without any time for debate. Sen. Scott Wiener, sponsor of SB 822, attempted to withdraw the bill and failed, and the committee went on to pass the toothless legislation.

Over the last week and half, legislators have been working to restore regulatory provisions to the bills and today, Sen. Wiener led a press conference with both his cosponsor, Sen. Kevin De Leon, and Assemblyman Santiago announcing that the key provisions were going to be put back into them.

“This will be the most comprehensive and the strongest net neutrality protection in the United States where we are restoring what we lost when Donald Trump’s FCC obliterated net neutrality,” Sen. Wiener said at today’s press conference.

Santiago addressed questions about why he initially opposed the more aggressive language, saying that the lawmakers involved with drafting the legislation disagreed on the proper ways to move forward. Wiener agreed with Santiago saying, “When I look back on this, we needed more time to make sure we were on the same page.” The details of these disagreements were not described by either lawmaker.

Today, Santiago seemed enthusiastic about the very same provisions he’d stripped out only a week earlier. “Let’s be very clear about what we’re doing today. We are talking about introducing the strongest net neutrality bill in the nation. And this is important because in no time in history have we ever demanded this kind of action faced with what we’ve seen at the national level,” he said.

Over the last week and a half, net neutrality advocacy group Fight for the Future has put pressure on Santiago, and launched a crowdfunding effort to shame him for gutting the legislation. Though $14,000 was raised, the group has put that plan on hold after today’s announcement. “We appreciate Assemblymember Miguel Santiago’s change of heart,” Evan Greer, the group’s deputy director said. “This should be a lesson to other lawmakers: don’t mess with net neutrality unless you’re prepared to feel your constituents’ wrath.”

The more rigorous net neutrality provisions will be reinstated through a series of amendments in the next few weeks. It’s uncertain whether these new amendments will be headed for a committee or floor vote once the California legislature is back in session. The bills have until August 31st to be approved by the legislature.
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29337

Navy for maintenance and support of the AN/AQS-24 mine detection system.

The contract, announced Tuesday by the Department of Defense, comes under a $9.9 million firm-fixed-price, cost-plus-fixed-fee modification to a previously awarded contract for maintenance of the AN/AQS-24 mine detecting system for the U.S. Navy.

The AN/AQS-24A is a towed side scan sonar with laser detection that is used by U.S. Navy helicopters such as the MH-53 for detecting and assisting in clearing sea minefields.

Specifically, the company will be responsible for depot level repair, maintenance and modification of the system to support currently deployed airborne mine countermeasures legacy systems.

Northrop Grumman Undersea Systems will also provide depot repairs and work on engineering proposals and changes, as well as support documents for all conversions and sustainment work.

Work under the contract will be performed in Annapolis, Md., and is expected to be complete in April 2019. No funds were obligated at the time of the contract award, the Pentagon said.
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29332

The U.S. Treasury Department put sanctions on three top Nicaraguan officials for alleged human rights abuses and corruption, the agency announced Thursday.

"We condemn the violence perpetrated by security forces and others that have resulted in the death of at least 220 demonstrators, and nearly 1,500 injured," the Treasury Department said in a statement. "Since protests began on April 18, the Nicaraguan government's violent response has included beatings of journalists, attacks against local TV and radio stations, and assaults on mothers mourning the deaths of their children."

Nicaraguan National Police Commissioner Francisco Javier Diaz Madriz and Fidel Antonio Moreno Briones, secretary of the Managua mayor's office, were sanctioned for "serious human rights abuse" in the country. And Jose Francisco Lopez Centeno, the vice president of Nicaragua's membership in the Bolivarian Alliance for the People of our America, an international cooperative with Venezuela and a handful of other countries, was sanctioned for "engaging in corrupt activities."

Nicaragua's National Police, led by Diaz, has been accused of firing on protesters, leading to nearly 100 deaths in less than two weeks when protests first broke out in April against social security reforms. The Treasury Department pointed out one of the more egregious allegations against the police force, which involved setting a house on fire with a family inside, including two small children, and shooting at people who attempted to save them. Six people were burned to death in the June incident in Managua, including the children.

The Nicaraguan government denied that its police officers were responsible for the incident and blamed "right-wing, masked delinquents" for the deaths.

The Treasury Department described Moreno as the link between municipal governments and the Sandinista Youth, a youth organization in support of the country's ruling party the Sandinista National Liberation Front. The Sandinista Youth has been accused of acting as a paramilitary force against the people and in support of the police for several years, but especially since the April protests began.

Lopez, who also is the president of Petronic, the country's state-owned oil company, is accused of using his two positions to exploit large amounts of money generated from taxes and fees for the personal use of Nicaraguan leaders.

"When involved in infrastructure projects, Lopez would syphon funds by negotiating personal fees, has placed numerous individuals throughout the government who have helped him steal millions of dollars on an annual basis, and has used his position to his and his family's benefit by using companies they own to win government contracts," the Treasury Department said.
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29331

A federal judge ordered the U.S. Postal Service to pay an artist $3.5 million for using his recreation of the Statue of Liberty on a series of stamps.

Judge Eric Bruggink ordered the Postal Service to pay Robert S. Davidson $3,554,946.95 after the USPS used his replica Statue of Liberty -- located the New York New York Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas -- without his permission.

The judge agreed with the prosecutor's assertion that Davidson's version of Lady Liberty "brought a new face to the iconic statue -- a face which audiences found appeared more 'fresh-faced,' 'sultry' and even 'sexier' than the original located in New York."

"A comparison of the two faces unmistakably shows that they are different," Bruggink wrote.

Davidson sued the USPS in 2013 after it used an image of the statue's face on its 2010 "Forever" stamp series.

The USPS purchased a license to use a photo of Davidson's statue that appeared on a stock image photo service, unaware it wasn't the actual Statue of Liberty in New York.

Three months later, after about 3 billion stamps had been sold and printed, the USPS learned of the mistake but didn't alter the stamp.

"We really like the image and are thrilled that people have noticed in a sense," a USPS spokesman said at the time. "It's something that people really like. If you ask people in Vegas, they're saying, 'Hey, That's great. That's wonderful.' It's certainly injected some excitement into our stamp program."

The stamps were discontinued in 2014 after about 4.9 billion were sold for $2.1 billion.

"For too long, the Postal Service has endeavored to ignore the rights of artists like Mr. Davidson, simply taking intellectual property with after-the-fact offers of nominal compensation," Davidson's attorney, Todd Bice, said.

The lawsuit set out to determine whether Davidson's statue could be considered an original work, as the USPS said the statue was a replica and rendered his copyright claim invalid.

Bruggink ruled the portion of the statue featured on the stamp was definitively Davidson's original work.

"The portion used was entirely of what we consider to have been the original work contributed by Mr. Davidson," he wrote. "The government's only real defense is that its use did not particularly harm plaintiff's business as an industrial sculptor. That may be true, but we also note that it certainly did not benefit him. The Postal Service offered neither public attribution nor apology."
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29329

Japanese tourist dies climbing Australia's Uluru

A 76-year-old Japanese man died while attempting to climb Uluru, the Australian landmark formerly known as Ayers Rock, Northern Territory police said.

Officials said the man collapsed Tuesday while attempting to climb a steep section of the rock formation. Emergency officials took him to a nearby health clinic in Yulara, but died.

"A helicopter had to be utilised to retrieve this person and take him back to Yulara clinic, but unfortunately he passed away," Duty Superintendent Shaun Gill told Australia's ABC.

His death was the 37th at Uluru since record keeping began in the 1950s. The last death was in 2010, when a 54-year-old man from Australia's Victoria state died on the descent.

Anangu traditional owners in the region expressed sorrow for the man's death. A traditional owner is a descendent of the original settlers of the land prior to European settlement in Australia.

"But we've got to look at the access to these places, Uluru is a sacred place. We put signs at the base of Uluru ... for safety's sake," traditional owner Vincent Forrester said.

In November, the Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park board imposed a new rule banning the climbing of Uluru starting in October 2019. The rule was in response to a request by the Anangu people, who said they felt intimidated into allowing climbers to use the sacred rock for recreational purposes.

The director of the Central Land Council, David Ross, described the vote as "righting a historic wrong" and said the rock is "not a theme park like Disneyland."

The Anangu have long requested that Uluru not be climbed, as they believe it's a deeply sacred men's site -- and that they have a cultural responsibility for the number of climber deaths and injuries.
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29192

A brave father has risked his life to save his 12-year-old neighbour from her burning home last night.

Chirs Raynor was woken up by his daughter, Lola, when she heard screams coming from the home across the road in Frankston, in Melbourne’ south-east, about 11pm

Without hesitation, Mr Raynor ran across the road and kicked down the front door of the burning house.

Racing upstairs, the father-of-two carried out 12-year-old Nikita from the top floor of the Seaview Road property.

Fire crews arrived at the scene soon after and saved Nikita’s 68-year-old grandmother, who was trapped upstairs.
Both residents were taken to Frankston Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation. Nikita has since been discharged, while her grandmother remains in hospital in a stable condition.

Fire authorities have praised Mr Raynor for his selfless actions.
“He should be commended highly for his actions. He certainly contributed to saving the life of that girl,” Dougal Broom from the CFA said.

It remains unclear what sparked the fire.
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29196

"I'm supposed to be somebody who knows better, and I know that. Me being human -- just like everybody else -- I thought I knew better, and in the end it almost cost me my life," said Fire Capt. Jay Northup.

Fire Capt. Jay Northup lit the fuse for the intended climax of his backyard fireworks display, a pricey 12-mortar box that would create a wondrous shower of glittering lights over his neighborhood.

Three of the 12 tubes went off, and then silence. A dud.

"I spent $600 on that, it's going to work," recalled Northup, who serves with the Euclid Fire Department in Ohio. "I figured I'll wait about 10 minutes to make sure it's not going to fire, then maybe I'll peel the paper to see if I can find the wick or something, see if it's something I can salvage."

That decision almost left Northup without his vision on July 4, 2016.

A mortar wound up exploding, causing terrible injuries to his face, eyes and head. The blast caused bleeding in his brain, and his forehead required 35 stitches to close the gash.

These days, Northup, 47, offers himself up as a cautionary tale on the dangers of fireworks, fully expecting to be ribbed around the firehouse.

"I'm supposed to be somebody who knows better, and I know that. Me being human -- just like everybody else -- I thought I knew better, and in the end it almost cost me my life," Northup said. "Let the professionals handle the fireworks. Be smart. You can't call a redo."

Fireworks were involved in an estimated 12,900 injuries treated in U.S. emergency rooms in 2017, and about 8,700 of those occurred during the weeks before and after the Fourth of July, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
What went wrong

Northup is well-versed in the dangers of fireworks, having served as a firefighter and paramedic for 25 years.

"I've been picking up kids with their hands blown off and eye injuries and burns from those types of things for years and years," Northup said.

But he'd started hosting a regular Fourth of July party, and at some point incorporated fireworks into the celebration.

That year, when the big mortar box failed partway through, Northup waited in the dark to make sure the fireworks didn't go off accidentally.

After what seemed a reasonable amount of time, Northup approached the device and started poking around at it. In the dark he couldn't tell his face was right over the top of one of the tubes, about a foot away.

"When I pull the paper it's just enough oxygen to allow the fuse, which was still hot, to reignite. Almost instantaneously the tube goes off in my face," Northup recalls.

The blast knocked him off his feet and blinded him.

"I can feel stuff pouring off the right side of my face," Northup said. "My right eye was blown closed instantly, and my left eye is full of debris, so I can't see anything."

His wife, an ER nurse, rushed her wounded husband 12 miles to Cleveland Metro Health, the closest trauma center, Northup said.

Fireworks cause three types of injuries, explained Dr. Thomas Steinemann, a clinical spokesman for the American Academy of Ophthalmology and the eye doctor who treated Northup.

The extreme heat generated by the explosives causes burns, while the explosion causes concussive injuries. There also can be chemical burns caused by ingredients in the fireworks, Steinemann said.
How doctors saved his sight

Emergency doctors treating Northup first focused on a subdural hematoma, a bleeding of the brain that is one of the deadliest types of head injuries.

Once they controlled the bleeding and pressure in his brain, they stitched up Northup's forehead and treated his facial burns. Both of his eardrums had also ruptured.

Northup's right eye took a direct hit from the mortar, burning off his eyelashes and the skin around his eye. The eye's cornea and retina had both been damaged, and blood had begun to pool in his eye.

Steinemann saved Northup's eyes, but over the next 10 months "my vision just went south," Northup said.

That's because the injury prompted a traumatic cataract, in which the lens of his eye began to cloud up. It's a common condition following this sort of disastrous damage to the eye.

Northup underwent cataract surgery to replace the clouded lens of his right eye, but the injury also left his pupil paralyzed.

"Many times, the iris gets damaged because it's a delicate little muscle, and the pupil is part of the iris," Steinemann explained.

"The pupil isn't a structure. It's a little hole in the iris that lets light in. Many people with these terrible concussive types of injuries to the eye end up with a pupil that doesn't work, that's permanently stuck," he said.

Because of this, Northup is very sensitive to light and relies on sunglasses during bright days outside.

"My lens is always stuck open in my right eye. It doesn't close down for sunlight. My eyes are always dilated, 100 percent of the time," Northup said.

Still, the doctors preserved Northup's sight and his career as a firefighter/paramedic.
Lesson learned and shared

Northup now urges others to let professionals handle fireworks.

"The quality of them varies. There really is no standard when it comes to fireworks. Most of them are made overseas," Northup said.

He particularly urges parents to not let their kids either play around fireworks or be around others who are setting them off.

"You will never forgive yourself if something you let them do causes harm to them, and you could have prevented it," Northup said.
More information

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has more about fireworks safety.
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29191

Treasurer Scott Morrison has promised no Australian state or territory will be worse off under a major overhaul of how GST funds are distributed.

To ensure no-one loses, the Federal Government will hand over $9 billion in "top up" funding during the transition to a new formula.

The new model follows a year-long review by the Productivity Commission, but the Treasurer has rejected the major recommendation that was made.

Mr Morrison said the recommendation would have benefited NSW and Western Australia, but left small states behind.

Releasing the Productivity Commission report and the government's interim response, which he described as "the fair go principle", Mr Morrison said "the system is broken, it does need to be fixed".

"The issue has been kicked down the road in the past," he told reporters today.

"That has to end. Australia does it better than anywhere else and we're going to do it better. To ensure the essential services that all Australians rely on.

"You've got to make the pie bigger. If the pie's bigger everyone gets more. All the states and territories benefit."
It's the biggest change to the GST since it was introduced in 2000 and comes after years of bitter feuding over the fairness of funding.

The new design will set a "floor" of 70 cents per person, per dollar of GST to make sure no state receives less than 70 percent of their own revenue from 2022-23, and 75 cents from 2024-25.

To help in the transition, Canberra will chip in $7.2 billion from 2021-22 to 2028-29.

By then, the Commonwealth will be contributing more than $1 billion a year in untied funds.
"When (the states and territories are) better off, that is a guarantee for essential services," Mr Morrison said today.

"We do believe in a fair go and a fair go has to be for everyone. The system wasn't providing a fair go for everyone."

In response, Opposition leader Bill Shorten said "the devil's in the detail".

"Liberals and the GST... It's always something you've got to be careful about," he said.
In response, Opposition leader Bill Shorten questioned the plan, saying he wants to make sure the proposed changes isn't 'robbing Peter to pay Paul'.

"If they're not trying to change the distribution, they're trying to increase the GST.

"I want to make sure this isn't a government that's robbing Peter to pay Paul."

On the contrary, Mr Morrison said no tax would rise to fund the new arrangement, but that the cost would be absorbed by the budget.

From 2026-27, the formula will be changed so only NSW and Victoria - the fiscally strongest states - will be used as the benchmark for funding.

The formula will have to be approved by the states and territories at a meeting in September.

Mr Morison said the figures were "indicative" and the final details would be thrashed out at the meeting with Treasurers.

But, he said, the government wasn't considering broadening the base, or lifting the rate of the GST.

The Federal Government believes the changes will satisfy the states, particularly WA, which has missed out on funding since the end of the mining boom.
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29198

Two men pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter in the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland, Calif., that killed 36 people in 2016.

Derick Almena and Max Harris, the two founders of the facility, were arrested in June 2017 for allegedly allowing dangerous conditions in the building that led to the fire on Dec. 2, 2016. Most victims were attending a concert inside the warehouse on the second floor and couldn't evacuate the building via a makeshift staircase, which prosecutors called an "inadequate means of escape."

Almena, the Ghost Shiper master tenant, agreed to a nine-year prison sentence Tuesday. Max Harris, the artist collective's executive director, will receive a six-year sentence. They will be credited with time served and possibly good behavior.

Teresa Drenick, an assistant district attorney for the Alameda County District Attorney's Office, said the two men were expected to be sentenced on Aug. 9. If they hadn't taken a plea, thy could have been sentenced to more than 35 years in prison, Drenick said.

"They acted with reckless conduct, and that caused the death of 36 men and women," she said after the hearing. "With today's pleas, not only do both they take responsibility, but they are now also found guilty of all 36 counts."

Almena managed the residents, mostly artists seeking an affordable space in an area with high rent. Harris rented out the warehouse for the party and prepared the area for the event, court documents said.

Harris had "blocked off an area of the second floor that included a second stairwell, which effectively reduced the upstairs guests to a single point of escape," the documents said.

Almena collected "fence boards, shingles, window frames, wooden sculptures, tapestries, pianos, organs" and other "ramshackle pieces" that spread the fire, according to court documents.

Tony Serra, Almena's lawyer, said his client entered his plea as "a moral imperative to eliminate all of the drama and pain and suffering," according to The East Bay Times.

Harris' lawyer, Curtis Briggs, said: "The city of Oakland botched the entire situation."

Harris plans to assist families who are suing the city and other defendants in a civil case for its lack of inspections and bureaucratic ineptitude, his attorneys said.

About a dozen family members of the victims appeared the the hearing.

When asked if he thought justice was served, David Gregory, father of Michela, responded: "No, it's not enough." His wife added, "Not at all."
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29190

Poland's chief Supreme Court justice stood on the courthouse steps with hundreds of supporters Wednesday in opposition to a new law forcing members of the panel to retire at 65.

The new law, which took effect midnight Tuesday, lowered the mandatory retirement age down from 70. It forces the retirement of about 40 percent of the Supreme Court's justices -- 27 out of 73.

"We emphasize our attachment to the rules of a democratic state," Chief Justice Malgorzata Gersdorf said before entering the Warsaw courthouse.

She called the new law a "purge" of justices, which could see the ruling Law and Justice Party seize control of the high court. The law also establishes a disciplinary chamber, which The New York Times said the governing party could use to intimidate judges.

Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski said Gersdorf is "doomed to fail miserably."

On Monday, the European Union launched legal action against Poland for the new law, saying it threatened judicial independence.

"Every EU country has the right to develop its judicial system according to its own traditions," Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki told the European Parliament on Wednesday.
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29188

A Qantas flight was forced to make an unscheduled landing in Adelaide after a passenger died on board.

The early morning QF2 flight was travelling from London to Sydney via Singapore when a medical emergency occurred, a Qantas spokeswoman told nine.com.au.

Flight crew and a doctor travelling aboard battled to save the stricken female passenger.

The plane landed at Adelaide airport at about 4.30am.

"Our crew did everything they could, including helping perform CPR with a doctor who was on board, but unfortunately the passenger has passed away,” the spokeswoman said.

"Our thoughts are with the passenger's family."

The flight took off for Sydney at about 6am and landed there about two hours behind schedule.
A statement from South Australian police said officers are preparing a report for the coroner.

“At 3.30am on Friday 29 June, police were advised that a plane bound for Sydney was diverted to Adelaide, following the death of a woman from New South Wales.

“The death is not being treated as suspicious.”
 https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29189

South Australia will become the first state in the country to introduce a vaccination program for the B-strain of the deadly meningococcal disease.

From October 1, children under four will be able to get the Meningococcal B vaccine for free, while from early next year students in Years 10 and 11 and young people aged 17-20 will also have access to the free program.

It follows a report from an expert group developed to find the best possible approach to combat the disease.

"Contrary to what we have seen nationally, instances of meningococcal B disease have not declined in South Australia over the past 18 years and it has predominantly affected children, adolescents and young adults," Health Minister Stephen Wade said.

"Meningococcal infection is a devastating disease that can cause death and for many survivors leads to permanent disability and other long-term effects.

"It currently costs parents up to $500 for a full vaccination course to immunise their children against meningococcal B – a cost which is out of reach for many."

The state's Chief Medical Officer, Professor Paddy Phillips, believes the new plan will be the best way to protect those most at risk.
"We know that meningococcal B disease occurs more frequently in infants and children up to four years of age, and young adults aged between 15 to 20 years of age," Professor Phillips said.

"There have been 372 cases of meningococcal B disease in South Australia since 2000, which sadly includes 14 deaths, and of those cases more than 60 percent were in people aged under 21.

The expert working group found that the program should prevent about 12 cases of meningococcal B disease each year, including one death every two years.

It’s also expected to reduce the amount of disability experienced by those who survive the disease.

The state government hasn't revealed the total cost of the program as commercial negotiations are ongoing, but it concedes it will be significantly more than the $25 million pledged by the previous Labor Government.
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29187

Joey Chestnut and Miki Sudo continued their Fourth of July tradition of breaking records in Nathan's Famous International Hot Dog Eating Contest on Wednesday on Coney Island's famed boardwalk in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Chestnut, 34, of San Jose, Calif., won his 11th title by consuming a record 74 hot dogs in 10 minutes. He surpassed his previous record of 72 last year.

Miki Sudo, 33, of Las Vegas, won her fifth title in a row in the women's competition, chowing down 37 dogs.

The annual Nathan's Hot Dog Eating Contest was televised on ESPN2.

Chestnut, who weighs 230 pounds, finished by a big margin.

Carmen Cincotti, 25, of Mays Landings, N.J., had 63 and Geoffrey Esper, 42, of Oxford, Mass., trailed with 43.

When the event ended, the scorecard showed Chestnut with 64 dogs and Cincotti with 45. But it was later revealed that an entire plate wasn't counted for both.

"The judges couldn't keep up with me," Chestnut said during the ESPN2 broadcast.

"I love to eat. I thought I'd just have fun and enjoy the food."

Three years ago, Matt "The Megatoad" Stonie, 26, ended Chestnut's eight-year winning streak. Chestnut finished second behind fellow San Jose resident, who finished finished far back this year.

In 2007, Chestnut dethroned Takeru Kobayashi, from Japan, who won six titles in a row.

In 2001, Kobayashi ate 50 hot dogs and buns -- doubling the previous record. He hasn't competed since 2009 due to a refusal to sign an exclusive deal with Major League Eating.

In the women's competition, Sudo was five behind her effort last year.

Michelle Lesco, 34, of Tucson, Ariz., finished second with 27, one better than three-time champ Sonja "The Black Widow" Thomas, 51, of Alexandria, Va., who owns the record with 45.

In 1916, Polish immigrant Nathan Handwerker opened a nickel hot dog stand on Coney Island with a $300 loan from two friends. It's still there at Surf and Stillwell.
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29186

A fake Melbourne gynaecologist is due to be sentenced today after he passed himself off as fertility specialist for 10 years, fleecing patients of hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Raffaele Di Paolo, 61, has pleaded guilty to and been found guilty of more than 50 offences including procuring sexual penetration by fraud, assault, indecent assault and obtaining property by deception.

There were more than 30 victims, one of whom said the treatments left her wanting to die.

Di Paolo pretended to be a medical practitioner who had worked in Italy and at the Melbourne-based Monash IVF fertility clinic before starting his own natural infertility therapies centre.

The County Court of Victoria was previously told that although he attended university in both Melbourne and Rome, he was never awarded a tertiary qualification.

Di Paolo also tried but failed to join Monash IVF in the 1990s before registering his own company.

His treatments included ultrasounds, taking unlabelled blood samples, and injecting women with homeopathic substances from Germany.
Nineteen of Di Paolo's patients were told they were pregnant when they were not.

Prosecutors have claimed he ripped off patients more than $385,000 but Di Paolo rejects some of the costs.

Di Paolo, who is in custody, is scheduled to be sentenced by County Court judge Bill Stuart said.
https://www.geezgo.com/sps/29185