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Watchdog report finds former Pentagon official created a toxic work environment | CNN Politics

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A newly released Defense Department inspector general investigation found that a former senior Pentagon leader berated and belittled subordinates, cursed at them, made some employees cry, and generally created a toxic work environment.

Michael Cutrone served as the principal deputy and acting assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs from May 2020 to January 2021 when he resigned. The Defense Department inspector general said in the new report released Wednesday that Cutrone repeatedly harassed subordinates and created an “intimidating, hostile, and offensive work environment.”

“Subordinates with decades of experience in the DoD described Mr. Cutrone as the most toxic boss they ever worked for and someone who poisoned self-confidence, created divisions, and was loathed and despised by his workforce,” the IG report said.

Cutrone was installed at the Pentagon by then-President Donald Trump in an effort to put more officials into the department who the Washington Post described as having an “undisputed allegiance” to the president, citing officials.

The IG said in its report that while Cutrone often “did not deny his conduct,” he told investigators he could not recall the specific instances mentioned by witnesses. He acknowledged to investigators that he fell short in some regards despite his intentions to be a positive leader.

The report also found that Cutrone consumed alcohol in the Pentagon without written authorization, which he said was done occasionally after office hours and was a misunderstanding of policy.

CNN has not been able to reach Cutrone for comment about the report.

Cutrone was provided tentative conclusions of the report by the IG in January this year and told investigators that he did not agree that he had failed to treat subordinates with dignity and respect, and that he had created a hostile work environment.

“Mr. Cutrone attributed his disagreements to his belief that the DoD IG failed ‘to understand and consider the appropriate context of the [ASD(ISA)] working environment,’ and the time that it took to complete the investigation,” the report said.

Complaints about Cutrone began rolling in on December 15, 2020, according to the IG report, when the DoD Hotline received an anonymous complaint that he “made two employees cry” and “berated and yelled at his employees.” Two days later, two other anonymous complaints that said Cutrone “verbally abused” his employees were referred to the IG to investigate.

Cutrone resigned from his position in January 2021, before the IG began its investigation in February 2021.

The IG ultimately interviewed 31 witnesses who worked with Cutrone; of those 31, four people used “positive terms” to describe his leadership like “hard working,” “ambitious,” “charismatic,” and “energetic.”

All 31 witnesses, however, including the four that used positive terms, described his leadership style negatively, using terms like “combative,” “bully,” “overly abrasive,” and “unprofessional.”

Witnesses said that Cutrone ignored Covid-19 mitigation policies in the Pentagon, regularly disregarding a policy that required masks in the building and telling subordinates they didn’t need to social distance. One witness said that Cutrone would “remove his mask to show them how mad he was,” the IG report said.

Witnesses also told the IG that Cutrone “started a culture of gossip,” asking staff about other employees and was “publicly denigrating” of those who worked for him in front of their coworkers. People told investigators they felt “miserable and depressed all the time,” were facing “abuse every day” that “exhausted” them and found that they were bending themselves “in knots trying to determine the formulation of language that will not in some way raise the ire of [M]r. Cutrone.”

Presented with comments from employees about the impact of his leadership, Cutrone told investigators he “tried to build a strong team” and “tried to do good by people.”

“I always tried to just be a strong collegial team member … and I’m sorry that I ever made people feel on edge and uncertain about what kind of engagement they were going to get,” he said.

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June 7, 2023
Philadelphia is under a ‘code red’ alert as millions from the East Coast to Canada suffer unhealthy air from Quebec’s wildfires | CNN

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CNN
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As an orange haze of wildfire smoke from Canada smothers parts of the eastern US, officials are warning residents in both countries of unhealthy or hazardous air Wednesday.

More than 55 million people in the eastern US are under air quality alerts due to the smoke. The heaviest smoke is forecast to impact the Northeast through the Mid-Atlantic and down to the Carolinas, and smoke conditions in those regions could last through at least Thursday.

Major metro areas in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut now have air quality indexes (AQIs) above 150 – which is considered “unhealthy,” according to the government website AirNow.gov.

Philadelphia had an AQI of 205 as of Wednesday morning, which is classified as “very unhealthy.”

New York City; Jersey City, New Jersey; and New Haven, Connecticut all had “unhealthy” AQIs ranging from 155 to 171 on Wednesday morning.

Live updates on the smoke’s spread

And the Canadian capital of Ottawa is getting hit with some of the worst air quality, according to AirNow.gov, a partnership of the US Environmental Protection Agency, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other agencies.

While New York City, Philadelphia and Washington, DC, are expected to see their air quality improve throughout the day, the air over Boston, Pittsburgh and Raleigh, North Carolina, is expected to get worse Wednesday.

Philadelphia issued a “code red” alert Wednesday, warning certain residents should stay indoors.

The elderly, young children and those who are pregnant or have heart or lung conditions could experience serious health effects from the smoke, said James Garrow, spokesperson for the Philadelphia Department of Public Health.

“For those who are not considered to be in a sensitive group, we are asking those folks to avoid strenuous activities outdoors like jogging or exercising,” Garrow told CNN Wednesday.

“We are asking folks to avoid unnecessary time outdoors,” he said.

“But if they need to be outdoors, they should be masked and head inside as often as they need.”

Garrow said it’s not clear how long the code red alert will last, “or if it will change to another level of warning.”

New York City had the worst air pollution of any major city in the world at one point Tuesday night, before dropping to second-worst behind New Delhi, India, according to air quality tracker IQair.

The smoke has also triggered air quality alerts in parts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia and the Carolinas, according to the National Weather Service.

Air quality in the US Northeast has deteriorated this week as more than 150 wildfires rage in Quebec, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Center.

In Quebec, the entire town of Chibougamau – population 7,000 – is under a mandatory evacuation order as fast-moving wildfires wreak havoc across the region.

“Given the current situation, the mayor of Chibougamau, Manon Cyr, has declared a state of emergency and announced the mandatory evacuation of the entire town, including the resort area,” the town announced in a Facebook post Tuesday night.

So far this year, the province has endured more than 400 wildfires, which is twice the average for this time of year.

More than 9 million acres have been charred by wildfires in all of Canada this year – about 15 times the normal burned area for this point in the year.

The alarming air quality prompted New York Mayor Eric Adams to ask residents to limit their outdoor activity and state environmental officials to issue an air quality health advisory for the city through Wednesday.

“Active children, adults, and people with lung diseases such as asthma should reduce prolonged or heavy exertion outdoors,” New York City Emergency Management said.

The nation’s largest public school district canceled all outdoor activities Wednesday, but will remain open. At least 10 school districts in central New York state canceled outdoor activities and events Tuesday.

Overnight Tuesday into Wednesday, the air quality index for the city topped 200, pushing it into the “very unhealthy” range, according to air quality tracker AirNow. By 7 a.m. Wednesday, New York City’s air quality index was just below 180, a designation of “unhealthy.”

Human-induced climate change has exacerbated the hot and dry conditions that fuel wildfires.

Scientists recently reported that millions of acres scorched by wildfires in the Western US and Canada – an area roughly the size of South Carolina – could be traced back to carbon pollution from the world’s largest fossil fuel and cement companies.

The intense wildfire smoke hovering over the Northeast could delay flights through major cities, the Federal Aviation Administration said.

As of noon ET Wednesday, airlines in the US have canceled 71 flights and delayed another 1,042, according to tracking site FlightAware.

“Boston, the New York metro area, Philadelphia and the DC metro area are all experiencing some smoke that could impact travel to the airports,” Sam Ausby with the FAA said in a video posted on the agency’s Twitter account.

Aviation weather reports show Newark Liberty International Airport is among the East Coast airports where visibility is the lowest – just 2 miles as of 11:51 a.m. ET.

But smoke does not necessarily pose a major safety hazard for commercial flights, which can operate normally without visual reference to the ground or horizon.

Wildfire smoke is particularly dangerous because it contains tiny particulate matter, or PM2.5 – the tiniest of pollutants.

When inhaled, it can travel deep into lung tissue and enter the bloodstream. It comes from sources like the combustion of fossil fuels, dust storms and wildfires, and has been linked to several health complications including asthma, heart disease and other respiratory illnesses.

And the impacts could be deadly: In 2016, about 4.2 million premature deaths were associated with fine particulate matter, according to the World Health Organization.

“If you can see or smell smoke, know that you’re being exposed,” said William Barrett, the national senior director of clean air advocacy with the American Lung Association. “And it’s important that you do everything you can to remain indoors during those high, high pollution episodes, and it’s really important to keep an eye on your health or any development of symptoms.”

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June 7, 2023
A ‘once-in-200 years’ heat wave caught Southeast Asia off guard. Climate change will make them more common | CNN

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Hong Kong
CNN
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Every day, countless mopeds criss-cross the congested city of Hanoi, in Vietnam, with commuters traveling to work or motorbike taxis dropping off everything from parcels to cooked food and clients.

One of them is Phong, 42, who starts his shift at 5 a.m. to beat the rush hour, navigating the dense swarm of mopeds and drives for over 12 hours a day with little rest.

But an unprecedented heat wave that engulfed his country in the past two months has made Phong’s job even more arduous. To get through the heat of the day, he equipped himself with a hat, wet handkerchiefs and several bottles of water – precautions that provided little relief as recorded daytime temperatures soared to more than 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit).

The average May temperature in Hanoi is 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit).

“If I get a heatstroke, I would be forced to suspend driving to recover,” he told CNN. “But I cannot afford it.” 

Phong, who declined to give his surname, said he carries a tiny umbrella to protect his phone, the main tool he uses for work as a driver for the ride-hailing platform Grab, along with his bike. If the phone breaks, he misses out on much-needed income. “I was worried that the battery would overheat once exposed to the sun,” he said.

Nearby in the same city, sanitation worker Dinh Van Hung, 53, toils all day cleaning garbage from the bustling streets of Hanoi’s central Dong Da district.

“It is impossible to avoid the heat, especially at noon and early afternoon,” Dinh told CNN. “Extreme temperatures also make the garbage smell more unpleasant, the hard work is now even more difficult, directly affecting my health and labor.”

Dinh says “there is no other way” but to change when he starts and finishes his shift.

“I try to work early in the morning or afternoon and evening,” he said. “During lunch break when the temperature is too high, I find a sidewalk in a small alley, spread out the cardboard sheets to rest for a while and then resume work in the afternoon.” 

Phong and Dinh are among millions of drivers, street vendors, cleaners, builders, farmers, and other outdoor or informal economy workers across Southeast Asia who were hit the hardest during what experts called the region’s “harshest heat wave on record.” 

Workers like them make up the backbone of many societies but are disproportionately affected by extreme weather events, with dangerously high temperatures greatly impacting their health and the already precarious nature of their professions.

April and May are typically the hottest months of the year in Southeast Asia, as temperatures rise before monsoon rains bring some relief. But this year, they reached levels never experienced before in most countries of the region, including tourism hotspots Thailand and Vietnam. 

Thailand saw its hottest day in history at 45.4 degrees Celsius (114 degrees Fahrenheit) on April 15, while neighboring Laos topped out at 43.5 degrees Celsius (110 degrees Fahrenheit) for two consecutive days in May, and Vietnam’s all-time record was broken in early May with 44.2 degrees Celsius (112 degrees Fahrenheit), according to analysis of weather stations data by a climatologist and weather historian Maximiliano Herrera.

Herrera described it as “the most brutal never-ending heat wave” that has continued into June. On June 1, Vietnam broke the record for its hottest June day in history with 43.8 degrees Celsius (111 degrees Fahrenheit) – with 29 days of the month to go.

In a recent report from the World Weather Attribution (WWA), an international coalition of scientists said the April heat wave in Southeast Asia was a once-in-200-years event that would have been “virtually impossible” without human-caused climate change.

The scorching heat in Southeast Asia was made even more unbearable and dangerous due to high humidity – a deadly combination.

Humidity, on top of extreme temperatures, makes it even harder for your body to try and cool itself down.

Heat-related illnesses, such as heat stroke and heat exhaustion, have severe symptoms and can be life-threatening, especially for those with heart disease and kidney problems, diabetes, and pregnant people.

“When the surrounding humidity is very high, the body will continue to sweat trying to release moisture to cool itself, but because the sweat is not evaporating it will eventually lead to severe dehydration, and in acute cases it can lead to heat strokes and deaths,” said Mariam Zachariah, research associate in near-real time attribution of extreme events to climate change at World Weather Attribution initiative at Imperial College London. 

“Which is why a humid heat wave is more dangerous than a dry heat wave,” she told CNN.

To understand the health risks of humid heat, scientists often calculate the “feels-like” temperature – a single measure of how hot it feels to the human body when air temperature and humidity are both taken into account, sometimes alongside other factors such as wind chill.

Perceived heat is usually several degrees higher than observed temperature and gives a more accurate reading of how heat affects people.

CNN analysis of Copernicus Climate Change Service data found that between early April and late May, all six countries in the continental portion of Southeast Asia had reached perceived temperatures close to 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) or more every single day. This is above a threshold considered dangerous, especially for people with health problems or those not used to extreme heat.

In Thailand, 20 days in April and at least 10 days in May reached feels-like temperatures above 46 degrees Celsius (115 degrees Fahrenheit). At this level, thermal heat stress becomes “extreme” and is considered life threatening for anybody including healthy people used to extreme humid heat.

Throughout April and May, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos and Malaysia all had several days with potential to cause extreme heat stress. Myanmar had 12 such days – until Cyclone Mocha brought relative relief, but severe devastation, when it made landfall on May 14.

The April-May heat wave in Southeast Asia caused widespread hospitalizations, damaged roads, sparked fires and led to school closures, however the number of deaths remains unknown, according to the World Weather Attribution report.

 The study found that, because of climate change, the heat was more than two degrees hotter in perceived temperature than it could have been without global warming caused by pollution.

“When the atmosphere becomes warmer, its ability to hold the moisture becomes higher and therefore the chances of humid heat waves also increase,” Zachariah, one of the authors, told CNN.

If global warming continues to increase to 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit), such humid heat waves could occur ten times more often, according to the study. 

And if emissions continue to increase at the same pace, the next two decades could already see 30 more deaths per million from heat in Thailand, and 130 more deaths per million by the end of the century, according to the UN’s Human Climate Horizons projections.

For Myanmar that number would be 30 and 520 more deaths per million respectively, for Cambodia – 40 and 270, data shows.

Extreme weather events also expose systemic inequalities.

“Occupation, age, health conditions and disabilities, access to health care services, socioeconomic status, even gender – these are all factors that can make people more or less vulnerable to heat waves,” said Chaya Vaddhanaphuti, one of the WWA report’s authors and lecturer at the department of geography at Chiang Mai University in Thailand.

Marginalized members of society, those without adequate access to healthcare and cooling systems, and those in jobs that are exposed to extremely hot and humid conditions are most at risk of heat stress.

“It’s important to talk about who can adapt, who can cope, and who has the resources to be able to do this,” Emmanuel Raju, also an author and director of the Copenhagen Center for Disaster Research, said in a press conference on May 17.

“For those working in the informal economy a lost day means a day lost in wages,” Raju said.

More than 60% of the employed population in Southeast Asia work in informal employment, and over 80% in Cambodia and Myanmar, according to a 2018 International Labour Organization (ILO) report.

In late April, Thai health authorities issued an extreme heat alert for the capital Bangkok and several other places across the country, warning people to stay indoors and of heat stroke dangers.

But for migrant workers like Supot Klongsap, nicknamed “Nui,” who temporarily left his home to work in construction in Bangkok during the pre-monsoon season, staying indoors was simply not an option.

He said that this year’s hot season was exceptional, causing him to sweat all the time and feel exhausted. “I started to sweat from 8 a.m., and it was difficult to work. I felt very exhausted from losing so much water.”

Nui, who slept at the construction site, said even the nights were unbearable. “Water coming from the pipe even during nighttime remained very hot just like it was boiled. It was difficult to find comfort.” 

He said the accommodation for construction workers is roofed and walled with corrugated sheets, and it barely protects from heat. Any access to air-conditioned rooms is a luxury Nui couldn’t afford. “We had to rely on buying ice and adding it to our drinks, our simple way to cool down,” he said.

A 2021 study found that outdoor workers in developing countries have higher core body temperature than to those working indoors, and they are two to three times more at risk of dehydration, leading to a higher chance of reduced kidney function and other related conditions. 

 In Thailand, the government recommends reactive measures, such as staying indoors, hydrating adequately, wearing light-colored clothes, and avoiding certain foods, Chaya told CNN. 

“But that doesn’t mean that everybody has the same capacity to do so.” 

The burden of cost often falls on individuals, Chaya said, making it their responsibility to cope with the heat.

What is needed, he said, is a cohesive international plan that can protect the more vulnerable populations in the face of increasing climate change risks, and proactive measures to prevent potential health issues.

Governments need to develop large-scale solutions, such as early warning systems for heat, passive and active cooling for all, urban planning, and heat action plans, World Weather Attribution scientists recommended in their report.

Intensifying heat waves not only affect individuals’ health, but threaten the environment and people’s livelihoods, worsen air quality, destroy crops, increase wildfire risk, and damage infrastructure – so the need for government action plans on heat waves are vital.

 In Yotpieng and Phon villages in northeastern Laos, people’s livelihoods are intimately connected with weather patterns.

 Villagers’ lives here revolve around tea. For centuries, every day at 7 a.m. the tea farmers start collecting leaves, until 11 a.m. when they would bring the harvest back home. The survival of these communities depends on collecting tea leaves to generate income for whole families.

But this year’s extreme heat is disrupting their ability to work according to their ancient working habits – they had to change from working in the morning to the afternoon during heat waves, and they are worried the quality and quantity of tea leaves will be affected, members of the local community told CNN.

 ”[The] weather is extremely hot for everyone this year and farmers are struggling,” according to Chintanaphone Keovichith, management officer at the Lao Farmer Network.

 “This year the weather is hotter than last year, and the tea leaves are dry,” said tea farmer, Boua Seng.

The manager of a 1,000-year-old tea processing factory, Vieng Samai Lobia Yaw, said she is worried this year’s tea leaves have not grown enough, which decreases harvest by almost 50% daily.

“It’s so wasteful – we spend more capital on laborers’ fees but getting less product,” she said.

For now, tea farmers in Laos have invented solutions to protect their trees. Some have planted large fruit trees, such as peach or plum, to provide shade for tea plantations, while others added more compost to nourish their plants.

“The tea [trees] in the shade will have a nice green leaf, but the ones without shade will have yellow leaf,” explained tea farmer Thongsouk. “We also collect additional income by selling fruit products.” 

But they cannot do it alone.

Without a comprehensive international approach to rapidly reduce planet-warming pollution and to address the interconnected impacts of extreme weather events on individuals, communities, and the environment, the health and economic costs from heat waves will only worsen as the climate crisis unfolds.

As May turns into June, many are still waiting for some respite.

“May was the worst month – that’s when the rain usually comes in, but this year [it] still hasn’t arrived yet,” said Chintanaphone.

Data graphics
Lou Robinson and Krystina Shveda

Editing
Helen Regan

Photo editing
Noemi Cassanelli

Additional reporting
Kocha Olarn in Bangkok

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June 7, 2023
Ukraine accuses Russia of ‘ecocide’ as critical dam near Kherson destroyed sparking evacuations | CNN

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CNN
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A major dam in Russian-occupied southern Ukraine was destroyed early Tuesday, prompting mass evacuations and fears for large-scale devastation as Ukraine accused Moscow’s forces of committing an act of “ecocide.”

Residents downstream from the Nova Kakhova dam on the Dnipro River in Kherson were told to “do everything you can to save your life,” according to the head of Ukraine’s Kherson region military administration, as video showed a deluge of water gushing from a huge breach in the dam.

Two videos posted to social media and geolocated by CNN showed the destroyed dam wall and fast-moving torrents of water flowing out into the river. Multiple buildings at the entrance to the dam were also heavily damaged.

The critical Nova Kakhova dam spans the Dnipro River, a major waterway running through southeastern Ukraine and there are multiple towns and cities downstream, including Kherson, a city of some 300,000 people before Moscow’s invasion of its neighbor.

Ukraine’s Operational Command South on Tuesday confirmed the dam’s destruction in a post on its official Facebook page, saying they were assessing the scale of the damage and calculating likely areas of flooding.

Following the dam breach, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said its destruction “only confirms for the whole world” that Russian forces “must be expelled from every corner of Ukrainian land.”

He also convened an emergency meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

Other senior Ukrainian officials blamed Russia.

“This is ecocide,” Andriy Yermak, the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said of the dam’s destruction.

“The Russians will be responsible for the possible deprivation of drinking water for people in the south of Kherson region and in Crimea, the possible destruction of some settlements and the biosphere,” he added.

In a video statement posted on Telegram, Oleksandr Prokudin, the Ukraine-appointed head of the Kherson region military administration, said the water “will reach critical level in five hours.”

“The Russian Army has committed another act of terror. It has blown up Kakhovka Hydro Power Plant… Evacuation in the area of danger has started,” he said.

Prokudin said evacuations in the “area of danger” around the dam had started and asked citizens to “collect your documents and most needed belongings and wait for evacuation buses.”

“I ask you to do everything you can to save your life. Leave the dangerous areas immediately,” he added.

Units of Ukraine’s National Police and the state emergency service of the Kherson region have been put on alert to warn and evacuate civilians from potential flood zones, Ukraine’s Ministry of Internal Affairs said.

Those zones are on the west bank of the Dnipro River, including “the villages of Mykolaivka, Olhivka, Liovo, Tiahynka, Poniativka, Ivanivka, Tokarivka, Poniativka, Prydniprovske, Sadove, and part of the city of Kherson – Korabel Island,” the ministry said.

With the water level rising, authorities urged everyone in the flood zone to turn off all electrical appliances, take documents and essentials, take care of loved ones and pets, and follow the instructions of rescuers and police.

The Russian-installed mayor of Nova Kakhovka, Vladimir Leontiev, initially on Tuesday denied information about the dam collapsing in an interview with Russian state media RIA Novosti, calling it “nonsense.”

He later confirmed the destruction of parts of the dam in what he called “a serious terrorist act” but said there was “no need to evacuate.”

“Overnight strikes on the Kakhovka hydroelectric power plant destroyed gate valves, causing water to be spilled downstream uncontrollably,” Leontyev said.

CNN was not immediately able to verify the claims made by Ukrainian and Russian officials attributing blame.

Throughout the course of the war in Ukraine both Moscow and Kyiv have accused each other of plotting to blow up the Soviet-era dam.

The escaping torrent of water has the potential to cause major destruction around Kherson city and other populated areas along the Dnipro River, according to analysts who have been fearing a breach could occur in the fighting.

And President Zelensky had previously warned that a breach of the dam could have catastrophic consequences for those living downstream.

“Destroying the dam would mean a large-scale disaster,” he said in October last year.

However, a Russian-installed Kherson official Andrey Alekseenko said the situation along the areas of the banks of Dnipro was “under control.”

“There is no threat to people’s lives,” Alekseenko said, adding that Ministry of Emergency Situation staff are in control of water levels in the river.

“If necessary, we are ready to evacuate the residents of embankment villages, buses are prepared,” Alekseenko added.

The dam is a critical piece of infrastructure, holding around 18 cubic kilometers in the Kakhovka Reservoir, about equal to the Great Salt Lake in the US state of Utah, according to Reuters news agency.

The 30-meter-high, 3.2-kilometer (2 miles)-long structure is one of six dams along the Dnipro and supplies water for much of southeastern Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula which was annexed by Russia in 2014.

It also supplies water for the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, which lies upstream and is also under Russian control.

On Tuesday, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s southern command said the dam’s destruction will “certainly” affect the operation of the nuclear power plant but there was “no need to escalate the situation now and draw the most critical conclusions.”

“Because all experts are involved and will try to create better conditions to avoid the next technogenic catastrophe,” said Natalia Humeniuk, adding that “the situation is currently under control.”

And the International Atomic Energy agency said “no immediate nuclear safety risk” exists at the Zaporizhzhia plant and their experts are “closely monitoring the situation.”

In November, the Nova Kakhovka dam was damaged in shelling and satellite images from Maxar Technologies obtained by CNN showed water flowing out of three sluice gates at the dam.

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June 5, 2023
Dutch police arrest over 1,500 people at Extinction Rebellion protest in The Hague | CNN

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CNN
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Dutch police arrested over 1,500 people after Extinction Rebellion protesters blocked a motorway in The Hague on Saturday.

Hundreds of police were deployed to “maintain public order” during the climate protest, Dutch police said in a press release Saturday.

According to police, shortly before midday local time, the activists descended upon the Utrechtsebaan (A12) motorway, after riot police prevented them for reaching “the underpass that they wanted to block.”

The activists then began protesting in front of the police line, prompting police to “directly” and “repeatedly” ask them to leave, according to the press release.

Extinction Rebellion Netherlands said that police deployed water cannons within 15 minutes of protesters blockading the A12 despite, according to the group, there being “no question of a dangerous or threatening situation.”

Videos of the protest posted in social media showed protesters dressed in swimsuits and raincoats, prepared for the water cannons.

Extinction Rebellion spokesperson, Raki Ap said in the statement that thousands of people had protested “on and next to the A12 with one demand: stop fossil fuel subsidies.”

Dutch actress Carice van Outen, best known for her role as Melisandre in hit TV show, “Game of Thrones,” was reportedly hit by a water cannon and arrested by police at the protest, according to Dutch public broadcaster, NOS. Earlier on Saturday, van Outen posted a video on her Instagram page of musicians playing Beethoven, calling it a “peaceful and musical protest.”

“Most of the activists, 1,539 people, were arrested for violating the Public Demonstrations Act,” the press release said, adding that the Public Prosecution Service will not be pursuing criminal action as it is only a minor criminal offense under Dutch law.

Forty people were arrested for other criminal offenses including obstructing, blocking, vandalism, and insulting, according to the press release. One person was arrested for resisting arrest resulting in injury. These cases remain under review, according to the police.

The arrests in the Netherlands come after Germany’s authorities this week conducted a series of raids against the comparable climate activist group Last Generation.

A total of 15 properties in seven German states were searched as part of the raids conducted on behalf of the Bavarian State Criminal Police Office (LKA) and the Munich General Public Prosecutor’s Office, authorities said.

The Prosecutor General’s Office in Munich said it had initiated a preliminary investigation “due to numerous criminal complaints from the population” against a total of seven defendants aged 22 to 38 years, “on the charge of forming or supporting a criminal organization.”

On Germany’s right, political figures were approving of the authorities’ crackdown on the climate group.

The leader of the centre-right Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Party, Friedrich Merz, wrote on Twitter that causing “mass damage to property, graffiti or memorial plaques, or gluing oneself to the streets or cars are quite simply criminal offenses.”

He added, “It is correct that police and prosecutors are taking action against the Last Generation and those who finance it.”

Some, though, questioned the move. Die Linke (The Left) Member of Parliament Lorenz Gosta Beutin told Bavarian broadcaster Bayerischer Rundfunk prosecutors were “putting themselves above our judiciary and courts.”

A member of parliament for Germany’s Green Party, Helge Limburg, agreed that the “blanket assumption” of the group as criminal was legally questionable in an interview with Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND).

The UK in 2020 threatened to class Extinction Rebellion as an organized crime group, which would have seen activists face jail terms of up to five years, although the plans did not come to fruition.

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May 28, 2023
Europe is trying to ditch planes for trains. Here’s how that’s going | CNN

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CNN
—

Ever since the “flight shame” movement began encouraging travelers to seek greener alternatives to jet planes, many in Europe have been looking to the continent’s extensive rail network to replace short-haul air travel.

There’s definitely been progress. Airlines including Dutch carrier KLM are entering into rail partnerships on certain routes, while countries like Austria and France are seeking to restrict internal routes where trains are available – although the French decree, which was made law in May 2023, has been significantly watered down from its original premise.

That’s amid a palpable rail revolution on mainland Europe, with new high-speed routes and operators coming online, a reversal in the decline of overnight sleeper services, new tunnel links cutting travel times and new locomotives improving reliability and efficiency. In Spain, Germany and Austria, cheap ticket deals have also played their part.

With so much railway investment, it seems as if the train-ification of Europe’s air transport network is well underway. Surely, it’s only a matter of time before the continent is relying almost exclusively on its iron roadways for getting around and the skies are clearer and greener .

In reality, that remains a distant dream. But why?

As with many efforts to innovate away from environmentally harmful practices, there’s good news and bad news. Fixes are being made, but none of them are quick. And there’s no sign that Europe’s airports are going to get quieter anytime soon.

This year got off to a strong start with new legislation promised in France that would ban short-haul flight on a number of domestic routes to help the country cut levels of planet-heating pollution, but though approved by EU officials and then signed into French law in May 2023, the measures are limited in impact.

For the ban to apply, the EU insisted the air route in question must have a high speed rail alternative that makes it possible to travel between the two cities in less than two and a half hours. There must also be enough early and late-running trains to enable travelers to spend at least eight hours at the destination.

This means that ultimately only three routes were culled: those linking Paris-Orly airport to the cities of Bordeaux, Nantes and Lyon. In a further blow to those hoping for a rail revolution, it turned out that, as it happened, those routes had already been cut in 2020 – the new law just means that they will not be reinstated in the future.

So what went wrong? The ruling by the EU’s European Commission watered down the original French plans, which would have seen a further five routes ending: From Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport to Bordeaux, Nantes, Lyon and Rennes, as well as a Lyon to Marseilles route.

The result, say critics, is something that pays lip service to climate concerns without really doing anything about them.

“The French flight ban is a symbolic move, but will have very little impact on reducing emissions,” Jo Dardenne, aviation director at cleaner transport campaign group Transport & Environment (T&E), told CNN before the law took effect.

T&E has estimated that the three routes affected by the ban represent only 0.3% of the emissions produced by flights taking off from mainland France, and 3% of the country’s domestic flight emissions (again counting only mainland domestic flights).

If the five additional routes that the French authorities wanted to include were added, those figures would be 0.5% and 5% respectively.

That doesn’t sound like much. But although aviation as a whole currently accounts for around 2.5% of global carbon emissions, its overall contribution to climate change is estimated to be higher, due to the other gases, water vapor and contrails that airplanes emit.

What’s more, it’s a fast-growing industry – despite the pause enforced by Covid – and is on track to be one of the most significant emissions-contributing industries in the future. Aviation emissions in Europe increased an average of 5% year-on-year between 2013 and 2019, according to the EU.

Airlines pay zero tax or duty on their fuel in the EU, unlike other forms of transport. Plane tickets are also exempt from VAT.

On the positive side, despite its limited impact, the French ruling sets a precedent that will be difficult to ignore by the aviation industry at a time when it’s coming under ever increasing scrutiny from the public, as well as politicians.

“The French measure is so marginal in its current scope that it is sustainability theater rather than having any material impact on emissions,” Patrick Edmond, managing director of Altair Advisory, an Ireland-based aviation consultancy told CNN – again before the law took effect.

“However we can look at it a different way – as the harbinger of more restrictions on aviation which are likely if the industry doesn’t get more serious about decarbonizing itself.”

France isn’t the first European country to take a tougher line on super short-haul flights.

In 2020 the Austrian government bailed out the national carrier, Austrian Airlines, on the condition that it axed all flights where a rail journey could take less than three hours.

In reality, only the Vienna-Salzburg flight route was cut, with train services increased on the line in response. A similarly short route, from Vienna to Linz, had been moved to rail in 2017.

That same year, the government also launched a 30 euro ($32) tax on all flights of under 350 kilometers (220 miles) departing from Austrian airports.

Other European countries are said to be considering curbs on short-haul commercial flights as well – a move that could be welcome, since 62% of European citizens would support a ban on short-haul flights, according to a 2020 survey. Spain has outlined plans to cut flights where train journeys take less than 2.5 hours by 2050.

Not surprisingly these moves have set alarm bells ringing in the aviation industry.

According to a 2022 report commissioned by the European Regional Airlines Association (ERA) together with a number of other aerospace industry bodies, if all airline traffic on routes of under 500 kilometers (310 miles) switched to another form of public transport, the potential carbon savings would total up to 5% of intra-EU emissions.

“For many decision-makers, banning short-haul flights and showing support to the rail industry is an easy win to gain favor with the public, especially in Europe,” Montserrat Barriga, the ERA’s director general, told CNN.

But Barriga and others – on both side of the issue – point to the double standard of restricting short-haul flights and phasing out carbon allowances for flights in Europe while taking no major steps to limit connections outside the bloc.

Long-haul flights produce the most emissions globally. A recent academic paper in the Journal of Transport Geography found that while flights of under 500 kilometers (310 miles) account for 27.9% of departures in the EU, they represent only 5.9% of fuel burnt. In contrast, flights longer than 4,000 kilometers make up just 6.2% of departures from the EU, but 47% of fuel burnt.

“Governments continue ignoring the biggest source of aviation emissions – long-haul flights, that remain unpriced and unregulated,” says T&E’s Dardenne. “Flight bans shouldn’t be used by governments as a distraction from the real problem.”

And while railways are currently blazing fresh trails through Europe, playing a part in the recent collapse of Alitalia, Italy’s national airline, rail operators could do more, says Jon Worth, founder of public advocacy group Trains for Europe.

High prices and low frequencies remain an obstacle to getting more people to switch from flying, he says – especially on trunk routes like Paris to Amsterdam, Frankfurt and Barcelona.

“On quite a few corridors, rail could get a share of multimodal transportation way above the current one. Rail operators have focused on maximizing profit rather than market share. The latter can only be achieved either by running railways as a public service or by introducing more competition,” he says.

Better connectivity between intercity rail and airports would also reduce the need for short-haul flights. Worth adds that it’s essential to offer combined tickets, so that, for example, if a train is delayed and the connection is missed, travelers are accommodated on the next one, as happens now with connecting flights.

This works rather well in countries where airlines and operators cooperate, including Germany, Austria, France, Switzerland and Spain. In February 2023, Italian airline ITA Airways – Alitalia’s successor – signed on to work with Italy’s national rail operator to create links, too.

However, this is an area where there is still much to be done – for starters, the schemes above are limited to the national carriers. A proposed piece of legislation called Multimodal Digital Mobility Services is expected to be adopted by the European Commission in 2023 with the aim to facilitate this type of intermodal travel more widely.

Back in France, shorter train travel times and increased frequencies may mean the end of the line for more domestic air routes when the ban comes up for review – the measure is only valid for three years. However, advances in clean flight technology may eventually change the perspectives for regional aviation as well.

Short-haul flights are likely to be the first segments of the aviation industry to decarbonize since most of the projects under way in the fields of electric, hybrid-electric and hydrogen-powered aviation focus precisely on small airplanes designed to cover very short distances.

The debate looks set to continue playing out over the next few years, as the environmental, social, economic, political and technological parameters that shape this discussion continue to evolve – and as the climate crisis continues.

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May 27, 2023
Climate activists dump charcoal in Rome’s Trevi Fountain | CNN

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Rome
CNN
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Climate change activists turned the blue water of the Trevi Fountain in central Rome black with diluted charcoal on Sunday.

Around 10 activists from the climate group Ultima Generazione (Last Generation) entered the 18th century late-Baroque fountain holding a banner that said, “Let’s not pay for fossil campaigns considering what is happening in Emilia Romagna,” referring to the deadly flooding in northern Italy, which some experts have linked to the climate crisis.

“Our country is dying,” other banners stated.

All activists were arrested and face vandalism charges, Rome police said.

Luisa Regimenti, councilor for personnel, urban security, local police and local authorities in the Lazio region, which includes Rome, condemned the act. In a written statement she said that it was the “umpteenth demonstrative act of eco-vandals” that hit “a symbol of Rome universally known in the world.”

Calling it an “irresponsible blitz,” she said dying the fountain was “a serious gesture, a worrying escalation that must be stopped with a safety plan for the monuments and the works of art most at risk in Rome and Lazio.”

Rome Mayor Roberto Gualtieri tweeted: “Enough of these absurd attacks on our artistic heritage. Today the #FontanadiTrevi was smeared. Expensive and complex to restore, hoping there is no permanent damage. I invite activists to compete on a confrontational terrain without putting the monuments at risk.”

He told local media on the scene that the 300,000 liter (66,000 gallon) fountain would have to be emptied and that the dyed water would have to be thrown away. “This will involve a significant intervention. It will cost time, effort and water.”

This is the third time activists have put charcoal into famous fountains in the eternal city. In May, they dumped charcoal in the Fountain of Four Rivers in Piazza Navona and in April they targeted the Barcaccia fountain at the base of the Spanish Steps. The group has claimed responsibility in each incident.

“Charcoal in the water of the Trevi Fountain,” they tweeted Sunday. “1 out of 4 houses in Italy is vulnerable to floods. How much longer do we have to wait for those in government to take concrete action?”

Some climate groups have criticized the Italian government for not being prepared for climate change in the wake of the flooding in northern Italy that killed at least 14 people and displaced more than 36,000.

The climate crisis “is affecting territories with increasingly intense extreme events, with risks to people’s lives, and impacts on the environment and the economy. And Italy once again proves unprepared,” said Italian environmentalist association Legambiente in a press release last Thursday

Legend states that anyone who throws a coin into the fountain will ensure their return to Rome. Each year around 1-1.5 million euros ($1.1-$1.6 million) in coins are collected for the Catholic charity Caritas. Around 3,000 euros ($3,200) a day are thrown into the fountain during busy tourist months, according to Rome’s tourism board.

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May 22, 2023
Myanmar junta travel restrictions are holding up vital aid to cyclone-hit communities | CNN

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Myanmar’s military junta is holding up humanitarian access to some cyclone-hit communities in western Rakhine state after Cyclone Mocha devastated the lives and livelihoods of millions of people in the poorest parts of the country.

United Nations agencies said Thursday they were still negotiating access to parts of the state four days after Mocha slammed into Myanmar’s coast on Sunday as one of the strongest storms ever to hit the country.

Hundreds of people are feared to have died and thousands more are in urgent need of shelter, clean water, food and health care as a clearer picture of the devastation is beginning to emerge.

While rescue groups have warned of “a large scale loss of life,” the exact number of casualties is hard to know due to flooding, blocked roads, and downed communications.

Widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure has been reported throughout Rakhine, home to hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

Storm damage has hampered efforts to access rural and hard-to-reach areas while pre-existing travel restrictions imposed by the junta have delayed the delivery of vital aid to communities in urgent need.

“Humanitarian actors have made clear that the need to secure travel authorization is impeding their response to the cyclone,” said Tom Andrews, UN Special Rapporteur for Human Rights in Myanmar.

“It seems that many agencies haven’t even been able to conduct needs assessments, let alone deliver aid, because SAC (junta) officials have not granted travel authorization. This is extremely worrying.”

The UN’s humanitarian office (OCHA) said it was still waiting for access to be granted by the junta to reach communities in Rakhine state in order to “start coordinated field missions to gauge the full scope of the humanitarian situation.”

“The bureaucratic access constraints are affecting all partners, including the UN and NGOs,” said Pierre Peron, UN OCHA’s regional public information officer. “To deliver, we will need access to affected people, relaxation of travel authorization requirements and expedited customs clearances for commodities.”

About 5.4 million people in Rakhine and the northeast are estimated to have been in the path of the cyclone, which crashed into the state as an equivalent category 5 hurricane, with winds of over 200 kilometers per hour (195 mph). Of those, more than 3 million people are most vulnerable, according to UN OCHA in its latest update.

The priority is to assess the damage in Kyauktaw, Maungdaw, Pauktaw, Ponnagyun, Rathedaung and Sittwe townships, it said.

“The road between Yangon and Sittwe has now reopened, potentially providing a transport route for much-needed supplies, if approved. It is also hoped the Sittwe airport will reopen on Thursday,” UN OCHA said.

Another roadblock to relief efforts is a severe lack of funding, with a $764 million humanitarian response plan less than 10% funded.

“Colleagues simply will not be able to respond to these additional needs from the cyclone and continue our existing response across the country without more financial support from donors,” said UN OCHA’s Peron.

Medecins Sans Frontieres told CNN it had a number of travel authorizations already in place for staff for the month of May, “which has allowed us to be fully operational so far and focus on life-saving activities in areas most affected.”

“Travel within Rakhine state is restricted with the exception of Sittwe, the state capital. Permission is always necessary. All aid agencies are required to apply for travel authorizations to implement activities one month prior to travel,” said Paul Brockmann, MSF’s operations manager for Myanmar.

Brockmann said the scale of the medical humanitarian needs created by the cyclone are “enormous” and fast approvals of import permits and travel authorizations is “of life-saving importance, considering that 17 townships have been declared disaster zones by the authorities.”

“The needs are widespread and beyond the capacity of any one organization to respond to,” he said.

Concerns are high because Rakhine is a largely impoverished and isolated state, which in recent years has been the site of widespread political violence.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced in the state due to the protracted conflict, many of them members of the stateless Rohingya minority group, long persecuted in Myanmar.

Rohingya in Rakhine are mostly confined to camps akin to open air prisons, where authorities place strict controls on their movement, as well as access to schooling and health care.

Access for certain aid groups and journalists to these areas is heavily restricted.

Aung Saw Hein, a resident of a displacement camp in the Rakhine capital Sittwe, told CNN the storm has “made us refugees again.”

“We have been refugees for almost 11 years now… We are not able to access health care, not able to take a rest… we are not able to support our family members with basic needs like food,” he said. “And now this storm completely destroyed our life and brought us on the road again.”

Myanmar authorities have a long history of impeding access to aid for vulnerable communities.

In the wake of a brutal and bloody military campaign that forced 740,000 people to flee to neighboring Bangladesh from 2017, aid activities in the north of the state were suspended and authorities denied humanitarian actors access to communities in need, mostly the Rohingya population, according to aid groups.

Following the 2021 military coup, the junta and its security forces imposed new travel restrictions on humanitarian workers, blocked access roads and aid convoys, and destroyed non-military supplies, Human Rights Watch reported at the time.

Rohingya adviser to Myanmar’s shadow National Unity Government Aung Kyaw Moe tweeted the junta is “blocking aid agencies in Rakhine” and “must not play the same game” as a previous junta administration did in 2008, when after Cyclone Nargis it prevented international disaster relief teams and supplies from reaching those in need. An estimated 140,000 people died.

“This is their basic MO,” said UN Special Rapporteur Andrews.

“In Rakhine state, in addition to access challenges, the restrictions on freedom of movement imposed on the Rohingya have further impaired their ability to access aid and services, including medical treatment.”

In a statement, the IFRC said “access in Rakhine and the northwest remains heavily restricted” but the Myanmar Red Cross has a “presence in every affected township through its branches and volunteers.”

A spokesperson for Partners Relief & Development, which has been working in the camps since the initial violence in mid 2012, said they have had few restrictions on their activity during that time and have a “strong local network carrying out our relief efforts.”

However, “access has been much more difficult in the past three years and the current government restrictions are now making it more complicated to reach the affected areas,” the spokesperson said.

“Our hope is that unimpeded access is provided and that the local authorities will not only facilitate access for aid but also contribute assistance and treat the Rohingya with care and dignity.”

CNN has reached out to Myanmar’s military junta for comment on the restrictions to access and aid in Rakhine following the cyclone.

Junta leader Min Aung Hlaing has been quoted by state media Global New Light of Myanmar as saying “relief teams must be sent to the storm-affected areas to carry out rescue and relief tasks as well as rehabilitation.”

State media showed Min Aung Hlaing visiting cyclone-affected areas in Bagan, a UNESCO World Heritage Site famed for its ancient temples. It also carried reports of the junta’s deputy prime minister Adm. Tin Aung San visiting towns and villages around Sittwe to oversee the delivery of water tanks, food supplies, and cash assistance.

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May 18, 2023
Bangladesh and Myanmar brace for the worst as Cyclone Mocha intensifies | CNN

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CNN
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Aid agencies in Bangladesh and Myanmar say they are bracing for disaster and have launched a massive emergency plan as a powerful cyclone barrels toward millions of vulnerable people.

Since forming in the Bay of Bengal early Thursday, tropical Cyclone Mocha has intensified to a the equivalent of a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane, with sustained winds of 259 kilometers per hour (161 mph) and gusts of up to 315 kph (195 mph).

The storm is moving north at 20 kph (12 mph), according to the latest update from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center on Sunday.

Mocha is expected to make landfall Sunday afternoon local time (early Sunday morning ET), likely across Rakhine State in Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, host to the world’s largest refugee camp.

Outer bands are already impacting Myanmar and Bangladesh bringing rain and strong winds to the region. Conditions are expected to deteriorate further leading up to landfall, which brings the threats of flooding and landslides.

Disaster response teams and more than 3,000 local volunteers who have been trained in disaster preparedness and first aid have been put on standby in the camps, and a national cyclone early warning system is in place, according to Sanjeev Kafley, Head of Delegation of the IFRC Bangladesh Delegation.

Kafley said there are 7,500 emergency shelter kits, 4,000 hygiene kits and 2,000 water containers ready to be distributed.

In addition, mobile health teams and dozens of ambulances are ready to respond to refugees and Bangladeshis in need, with specially trained teams on stand by to help the elderly, children and the disabled, Arjun Jain, UN Principal Coordinator for the Rohingya Refugee Response in Bangladesh, told CNN.

“We expect this cyclone to have a more severe impact than any other natural disaster they have faced in the past five years,” said Jain. “At this stage, we just don’t know where the cyclone will make landfall and with what intensity. So we are hoping for the best but are preparing for the worst.”

Evacuations of people in low-lying areas or those with serious medical conditions had begun, he said.

In Myanmar, residents in coastal areas of Rakhine state and Ayeyarwady region have started to evacuate and seek shelter at schools and monasteries.

Hundreds of Red Cross volunteers are on standby and the agency is relocating vulnerable people and raising awareness of the storm in villages and townships, the IFRC’s Kafley said.

The last storm to make landfall with a similar strength was Tropical Cyclone Giri back in October 2010. It made landfall as a high-end Category 4 equivalent storm with maximum winds of 250 kph (155 mph).

Giri caused over 150 fatalities and roughly 70% of the city of Kyaukphyu was destroyed. According to the United Nations, roughly 15,000 homes were destroyed in Rakhine state during the storm.

About 1 million members of the stateless Rohingya community, who fled persecution in nearby Myanmar during a military crackdown in 2017, are living in the sprawling and overcrowded camps in Cox’s Bazar.

Most live in bamboo and tarpaulin shelters perched on hilly slopes that are vulnerable to strong winds, rain, and landslides.

Jain said the shelters can only withstand wind speeds of 40 kph (24 mph) and he expects winds from Cyclone Mocha to exceed that.

“Low lying areas of the camps are likely to flood rapidly, destroying shelters, facilities such as learning centers, as well as infrastructure such as bridges that have been constructed with bamboo,” he said.

The cyclone adds to an already disastrous year for the Rohingya, and without more funds from the international community, Jain said they won’t have enough to rebuild.

“They faced a 17% cut in their food rations earlier this year due to funding cuts and we expect a further cut in their rations in the coming months. 16,000 refugees lost their home in a devastating fire in March. And now they must deal with the cyclone. Unfortunately, we don’t even have the funds to help refugees rebuild their homes and facilities if the devastation is severe,” he said.

There are also concerns for 30,000 Rohingya refugees housed on an isolated and flood-prone island facility in the Bay of Bengal, called Bhasan Char. The UN refugee agency said volunteers and medical teams are on standby and cyclone shelters and food provisions are available for those living on the island.

In Myanmar, about 6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance in Rakhine state and across the northwest, with 1.2 million displaced, according to the UN humanitarian agency.

The past few decades have seen an increase in the strength of tropical cyclones affecting countries in parts of Asia and recent research predicts they could have double the destructive power in the region by the end of the century.

While scientists are still trying to understand ways climate change is affecting cyclones, a slew of research has linked human-caused global warming to more potent and destructive cyclones.

Tropical cyclones (also known as hurricanes, typhoons and tropical storms depending on ocean basin and intensity), feed off ocean heat. They need temperatures of at least around 27 degrees Celsius (80 Fahrenheit Fahrenheit) to form, and the warmer the ocean, the more moisture they can take up.

The waters in the Bay of Bengal are currently around 30 degrees Celsius (86 Fahrenheit Fahrenheit), about 2 degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) warmer than average for May.

As the climate crisis pushes up the temperatures of oceans – which absorb around 90% of the world’s excess heat – it provides ideal conditions for cyclones to gain strength.

Warmer oceans also increase the chances of cyclones rapidly intensifying, according to recent research.

Climate-change fueled sea-level rise adds to the risks, worsening storm surges from tropical cyclones and allowing them to travel further inland.

Bangladesh and Myanmar are particularly threatened because they are low-lying, as well as being home to some of the world’s poorest people.

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May 13, 2023
2 dead after possible tornado in Texas | CNN

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CNN
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At least two people are dead and 10 others were taken to the hospital after a possible tornado struck around 4 a.m. Saturday along the southern coast of Texas, near the Mexico border, officials said.

Crews are searching for more survivors amid extensive damage in Laguna Heights, which is between Port Isabel and Laguna Vista, according to the City of Port Isabel.

Multiple structures and power lines were damaged, and crews from several agencies are helping with cleanup and recovery, the city said in a Facebook post.

The National Weather Service in Brownsville said it has a survey team headed to the area “to determine if a tornado did occur.”

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May 13, 2023
What is a species? | CNN

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Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news on fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.

CNN
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A frog that looks like it’s made of tempered chocolate. A rainbow-colored fish that dwells in the ocean’s “twilight zone.” A hairy sloth with a coconut-shaped head.

These are just a few of the hundreds of newfound species that scientists described in 2022. The animals join a growing list of more than 1.25 million species that have been scientifically described and cataloged since the 18th century.

But what defines an organism as a species that’s new to science? And what exactly is a species, for that matter?

Biologists have wrestled with the concept for about as long as the field of biology has existed. Renowned naturalist Charles Darwin wrote in 1859: “No one definition has as yet satisfied all naturalists; yet every naturalist knows vaguely what he means when he speaks of a species.”

Fast-forward to the present, and the debate hasn’t changed much. “There are many definitions, and none of them applies broadly to all life on the planet,” said Bruno de Medeiros, assistant curator of insects at the Field Museum in Chicago.

And yet, recognizing and distinguishing between species is vital — and not only for biologists. It’s also necessary for cultivating the food we eat, treating diseases caused by different pathogens, and conserving endangered animals, plants and habitats.

The concept is also a critical part of understanding our own evolutionary history and defining our relationship to all life on the planet.

Teeming with life, Earth is covered with organisms of all shapes and sizes. Some are too small to see without a microscope. Others may tower hundreds of feet tall. Myriad life forms may gestate in a womb or sprout in soil, hatch from an egg or germinate in a corpse. They could be scaly, chitinous, furry or feathered; perhaps they are leafy, dotted with cilia or slick with slime. They might roam for thousands of miles or spend their lifetimes rooted in one spot.

Scientists make sense of all this biological diversity by classifying organisms based on shared ancestry and features such as physical appearance, internal structures and reproduction. A universal, hierarchical classification system was proposed in 1753 by Swedish biologist Carl Linnaeus, and it’s still generally followed today. This branch of science is known as taxonomy.

The broadest categories for all life on Earth are the domains. There are three domains — Bacteria, Archaea and Eukaryota — and they organize life based on cellular structure. Eukaryotes have cells that typically contain a single nucleus housing DNA: All multicellular life — animals, plants and fungi — as well as some types of unicellular life, are eukaryotes. Bacteria and Archaea are single-celled microorganisms that don’t have a nucleus, and they are evolutionarily distinct from one another.

The next category is kingdoms. In each kingdom, there are subcategories: phylum, class, order, family, genus and species. With each subcategory, the criteria for grouping organisms become progressively more specific and selective.

For example, humans are animals. That means we’re eukaryotes in the Animalia kingdom. Our phylum is Chordata, which includes any animal with a spinal cord. We are part of the class Mammalia. Within mammals, we are primates, sharing ancestry with apes, monkeys and lemurs. Our branch of the primate family tree is Hominidae, which includes our closest relatives: the great apes, such as gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos.

Finally, we arrive at our genus and species — and our scientific name — Homo sapiens. We are the only surviving lineage in the Homo genus. Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis), our last remaining relatives in the Homo group, went extinct about 40,000 years ago.

Theoretically, “a species is a set of populations or one population of organisms that shares a common evolutionary history and reproduces with one another but not outside that group,” according to Nancy Simmons, curator-in-charge of mammalogy at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.

If an animal population in a certain locale looks more or less the same, behaves the same, and mates and generates fertile offspring only with each other, “usually, we call this a species,” de Madeiros added.

But color, markings and even size can vary widely within a species; this is true for many species of spiders. Not all life reproduces sexually, so that criteria isn’t universal for defining a species, either. And in some organisms that sexually reproduce, closely related species may interbreed and produce fertile offspring. Coydogs, for example, are fertile hybrids of coyotes (Canis latrans) and dogs (Canis familiaris). Humans and Neanderthals interbred, and portions of Neanderthal DNA linger in the human genome, in people of non-African descent.

It can take millions of years for new species to evolve; often, what biologists are observing is evolution in progress. Closely related species can differ from each other a lot or a little — anatomically and genetically — depending on environmental circumstances and when they diverged from a shared ancestor.

In the best-case scenarios for describing new species, there are many data sources, Simmons explained. A candidate typically differs physically from its close relatives, with different measurements, different morphology (anatomical structures), or different colors or patterns.

“But then ideally we’d have other lines of evidence too — different genetic code or some sort of DNA variation,” Simmons told CNN. Behavior can also distinguish between species. In bats, for example, echolocation calls are often species-specific.

All these criteria — anatomy, genetics, behavior and location — enabled Simmons and her colleagues to describe a newfound orange-and-black bat species, Myotis nimbaensis, in 2021.

In recent decades, genetic data has transformed classification. Genomic analysis can reveal species-defining differences in near-identical organisms, as de Madeiros discovered while analyzing DNA sequences for palm flower weevils — a type of beetle with an elongated snout — that he had collected in Brazil in 2013 and 2014.

Initially, he thought there was a mistake in the data. “I had identical beetles that were clearly very distantly related species,” he said. But when he reexamined the insects, which belonged to the genus Anchylorhynchus, he noticed subtle differences in concave depressions in the males’ undersides. These indentations help the males fit snugly on top of females while mating, and likely are important for helping beetles identify and mate with females from the correct species, de Madeiros said.

In many ways, genetic data has made it easier for scientists to tell species apart — but it has also raised its own set of issues, particularly when closely related organisms that look alike and exhibit similar behavior are also very similar genetically.

“We get into questions of how much of a percentage of a difference in the genetic code do you have to have to be a distinct species — and people disagree on that, too,” Simmons said. “So, even when we have genetic data, you don’t find complete agreement about how to interpret it.”

However difficult it might be to define a species, scientists won’t be running out of new discoveries anytime soon. By some estimates, Earth is home to approximately 8.7 million species — about 6.5 million living on land and 2.2 million in the oceans, which means that roughly 86% of land species and 91% of marine species are yet to be found and described.

“We have a great challenge ahead to keep describing this diversity — how it evolves and how it will continue existing on our planet,” de Madeiros said.

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May 12, 2023
Cyclone Mocha is strengthening in the Bay of Bengal and heading toward the world’s largest refugee camp | CNN

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CNN
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A tropical cyclone is strengthening in the Bay of Bengal and is on course to hit western Myanmar and Bangladesh’s Cox’s Bazar, where around 1 million people live in flimsy shelters in what many consider to be the world’s largest refugee camp.

Cyclone Mocha is the first to form in the Bay this year and is expected to strengthen further before making landfall on Sunday, likely in western Myanmar’s Rakhine state, near the border with Bangladesh.

According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, Mocha strengthened Friday into the equivalent of a category 1 Atlantic hurricane and is moving north at 11 kilometers per hour (7 miles per hour).

The storm’s winds could peak at 220 kph (137 mph) – equivalent to a category 4 Atlantic hurricane – just before making landfall on Sunday morning, the agency said.

India’s Meteorological Department said Friday Mocha had intensified into a very severe cyclonic storm and warned fishermen and trawlers against sailing far into the Bay over the coming days.

The agency forecast a storm surge of up to 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) was likely to inundate low-lying coastal areas in the path of the cyclone at the time of landfall.

In Bangladesh, that includes Cox’s Bazar, home to members of the stateless Rohingya community who fled persecution in nearby Myanmar during a military crackdown in 2017. Many live in bamboo and tarpaulin shelters perched on hilly slopes that are vulnerable to strong winds, rain, and landslides.

There are also concerns for hundreds of Rohingya refugees housed on an isolated and flood-prone island facility in the Bay of Bengal, called Bhasan Char.

Ahead of Mocha’s expected landfall, aid agencies are ramping up their emergency preparedness and response with local and refugee communities.

The UN refugee agency in Bangladesh said in a tweet that “emergency preparations in the camps and on Bhasan Char are underway” in coordination with the government and local aid agencies.

“In preparation of cyclones, hundreds of Rohingya refugee volunteers have been trained on identifying risks, informing their communities, evacuating people when needed and responding after disaster strikes,” the UNHCR said in a tweet.

In neighboring Myanmar, residents in coastal areas of Rakhine state and Ayeyarwady region have started to evacuate their homes and seek shelter ahead of the cyclone’s expected landfall, according to local independent media Myanmar Now.

The ruling Myanmar junta has issued cyclone warnings and claimed to be taking precautionary measures such as readying disaster management committees to respond to a potential disaster, according to state media Global New Light of Myanmar.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center said widespread flooding, landslides and high wind gusts are expected around the area of landfall and across Myanmar’s interior.

The last named tropical cyclone to make landfall in Myanmar was Maarutha in April, 2017. Though Maarutha was the equivalent of a tropical storm at landfall, with maximum winds of 92 kph (58 mph), it brought heavy rains and damaged nearly 100 homes.

In October 2010, Tropical Cyclone Giri was the last storm to make landfall with hurricane-force winds. It made landfall as a high-end Category 4 equivalent storm with maximum winds of 250 kph (155 mph).

Giri caused over 150 fatalities and roughly 70% of the city of Kyaukphyu, in Rakhine state, was destroyed. According to the United Nations, roughly 15,000 homes were destroyed in the state during the storm.

The worst natural disaster to hit Myanmar was Cyclone Nargis in May 2008, killing 140,000 people, severely affecting 2.4 million and leaving 800,000 displaced, aid agencies said.

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May 11, 2023
Mysterious rumblings were recorded in Earth’s stratosphere | CNN

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Giant solar balloons were sent 70,000 feet up in the air to record sounds of Earth’s stratosphere — and the microphones picked up some unexpected sounds.

The stratosphere is the second layer of Earth’s atmosphere, and its lower level contains the ozone layer that absorbs and scatters the sun’s ultraviolet radiation, according to NASA. The thin, dry air of the stratosphere is where jet aircraft and weather balloons reach their maximum altitude, and the relatively calm atmospheric layer is rarely disturbed by turbulence.

Daniel Bowman, principal scientist at Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico, was inspired in graduate school to explore the soundscape of the stratosphere after being introduced to the low-frequency sounds that are generated by volcanoes. Known as infrasound, the phenomenon is inaudible to the human ear.

Bowman and his friends had previously flown cameras on weather balloons “to take pictures of the black sky above and the Earth far below” and successfully built their own solar balloon.

He proposed attaching infrasound recorders to balloons to record the sounds of volcanoes. But then he and his adviser Jonathan Lees of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, “realized that no one had tried to put microphones on stratospheric balloons for half a century, so we pivoted to exploring what this new platform could do,” Bowman said. Lees is a professor of Earth, marine and environmental sciences who researches seismology and volcanology.

The balloons can take sensors twice as high as commercial jets can fly.

“On our solar balloons, we have recorded surface and buried chemical explosions, thunder, ocean waves colliding, propeller aircraft, city sounds, suborbital rocket launches, earthquakes, and maybe even freight trains and jet aircraft,” Bowman said via email. “We’ve also recorded sounds whose origin is unclear.”

The findings were shared Thursday at the 184th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in Chicago.

A recording shared by Bowman from a NASA balloon that circled Antarctica contains infrasound of colliding ocean waves, which sounds like continual sighing. But other crackles and rustling have unknown origins.

Listen to the sounds of the stratosphere

Solar balloons captured a multitude of sounds in the second layer of Earth’s atmosphere, including colliding ocean waves — as well as sounds with unidentified origins.

Source: Daniel Bowman/Sandia National Laboratories

In the stratosphere, “there are mysterious infrasound signals that occur a few times per hour on some flights, but the source of these is completely unknown,” Bowman said.

Bowman and his collaborators have conducted research using NASA balloons and other flight providers, but they decided to build their own balloons, each spanning about 19.7 to 23 feet (6 to 7 meters) across.

The supplies can be found at hardware and pyrotechnic supply stores, and the balloons can be assembled on a basketball court.

“Each balloon is made of painter’s plastic, shipping tape, and charcoal dust,” Bowman said via email. “They cost about $50 to make and a team of two can build one in about 3.5 hours. One simply brings it out to a field on a sunny day and fills it up with air, and it will carry a pound of payload to about 70,000 ft.”

The charcoal dust is used inside the balloons to darken them, and when the sun shines on the dark balloons, the air inside them warms up and becomes buoyant. The inexpensive and easy DIY design means the researchers can release multiple balloons to collect as much data as possible.

“Really, a group of high schoolers with access to the school gym could build a solar balloon, and there’s even a cellphone app called RedVox that can record infrasound,” Bowman said.

Bowman estimated that he launched several dozen solar balloons to collect infrasound recordings between 2016 and April of this year. Microbarometers, originally designed to monitor volcanoes, were attached to the balloons to record low-frequency sounds.

The researchers tracked their balloons using GPS, since they can travel for hundreds of miles and land in inconvenient locations.

The longest flight so far was 44 days aboard a NASA helium balloon, which recorded 19 days worth of data before the batteries on the microphone died. Meanwhile, solar balloon flights tend to last about 14 hours during the summer and land once the sun sets.

The advantage of the high altitude reached by the balloons means that noise levels are lower and the detection range is increased — and the whole Earth is accessible. But the balloons also present challenges for researchers. The stratosphere is a harsh environment with wild temperature fluctuations between heat and cold.

“Solar balloons are a bit sluggish, and we’ve wrecked a few on bushes when trying to launch them,” Bowman said. “We’ve had to hike down into canyons and across mountains to get our payloads. Once, our Oklahoma State colleagues actually had a balloon land in a field, spend the night, and launch itself back in the air to fly another whole day!”

Lessons learned from multiple balloon flights have somewhat eased the process, but now the greatest challenge for researchers is identifying the signals recorded during the flights.

“There are many flights with signals whose origin we do not understand,” Bowman said. “They are almost certainly mundane, maybe a patch of turbulence, a distant severe storm, or some sort of human object like a freight train — but it’s hard to tell what is going on sometimes due to the lack of data up there.”

Sarah Albert, a geophysicist at Sandia National Laboratories, has investigated a “sound channel” — a conduit that carries sounds across great distances through the atmosphere — located at the altitudes Bowman studies. Her recordings have captured rocket launches and other unidentified rumblings.

“It may be that sound gets trapped in the channel and echoes around until it’s completely garbled,” Bowman said. “But whether it is near and fairly quiet (like a patch of turbulence) or distant and loud (like a faraway storm) is not clear yet.”

Bowman and Albert will continue to investigate the aerial sound channel and try to determine where the stratosphere’s rumbles are originating — and why some flights record them while others don’t.

Bowman is eager to understand the soundscape of the stratosphere and unlock key features, like variability across seasons and locations.

It’s possible that helium-filled versions of these balloons could one day be used to explore other planets like Venus, carrying scientific instruments above or within the planet’s clouds for a few days as a test flight for larger, more complex missions.

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May 11, 2023
Hundreds of rockets fired at Israel amid deadly IDF airstrikes in Gaza | CNN

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Gaza and Jerusalem
CNN
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Israel’s army and Palestinian militants exchanged heavy cross-border fire on Wednesday, with hundreds of rockets launched from Gaza towards Israel after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out deadly strikes on what it says are Islamic Jihad organization targets along the strip.

The latest violence came after Israeli military airstrikes earlier in the week killed three leaders of the Palestinian militant group and 10 other Palestinian men, women and children in Gaza and led to threats of retaliation.

In a new update early Thursday, the IDF said it had targeted another Islamic Jihad commander who was a “central figure” in the Palestinian militant group.

“We just targeted Ali Ghali, the commander of Islamic Jihad’s Rocket Launching Force, as well as two other Islamic Jihad operatives in Gaza,” the IDF said in a tweet, adding that Ghali was “responsible for the recent rocket barrages launched against Israel.”

Israel has been bombarding the Islamic Jihad’s operatives and infrastructure, using unmanned drones for surveillance as it monitors militant preparations to propel rockets, IDF chief spokesman Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari said Wednesday.

At least six Palestinians were killed in Wednesday’s airstrikes, the Ministry of Health in Gaza said, revising down its earlier count.

Hamas, the Palestinian militant movement that runs Gaza, issued a statement Wednesday strongly suggesting that its forces were releasing rockets towards Israel, shortly after the IDF said firmly it believed Hamas was not doing so.

“The Palestinian resistance with all its factions, led by the Nasser Salah al-Din Brigades, is participating now in a unified manner by teaching the enemy a lesson that it will not forget and confirming that Palestinian blood is not cheap,” said the statement, issued by Muhammad al-Buraim, an official in the joint resistance committees in Palestine.

The statement appeared designed to reject an assertion by IDF chief spokesman Hagari that the IDF saw only Islamic Jihad, not Hamas, firing rockets.

Nearly 500 rockets were fired from Gaza towards Israel in the recent barrage, according to the IDF, as of 9:30 p.m. local time. Of those, 153 were intercepted by Israeli missile defenses and 107 fell short, landing in Gaza.

The IDF said fighter jets and helicopters targeted over 40 rocket and mortar shells launchers belonging to Islamic Jihad terrorist across the Gaza Strip, adding that it is continuing to target launchers and additional posts belonging to the militant organization.

Civilians in Israel have been asked to act according to the special instructions posted on the National Emergency Portal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other top officials Wednesday downplayed the idea that a ceasefire with Islamic Jihad was imminent, with Netanyahu saying: “The campaign is not over yet.”

National Security Council chair Tzachi Hanegbi said that rumors of a ceasefire were “premature,” while Defense Minister Yoav Gallant struck a slightly more optimistic note, saying: “I hope we’ll bring it to an end soon, but we’re ready for the option that it will be prolonged.”

Over half a million Israelis were in or near shelters, the IDF spokesman Hagari said just after 2 p.m. local time (7 a.m. ET) on Wednesday.

International leaders have condemned the hostilities. The United Nations Secretary-General urged all parties to exercise “maximum restraint” over the escalation of violence in Gaza, a statement by Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the Secretary-General, said on Wednesday.

“The Secretary General condemns the civilian loss of life, including that of children and women, which he views as unacceptable and must stop immediately,” the statement said.

“Israel must abide by its obligations under international humanitarian law, including the proportional use of force and taking all feasible precautions to spare civilians and civilian objects in the conduct of military operations. “

The statement continued to say the Secretary-General also condemns the “indiscriminate launch” of rockets from Gaza into Israel, adding it “violates international humanitarian law and puts at risk both Palestinian and Israeli civilians.”

Qatar has been engaged in “intensive and continuous calls” to stop Israel’s “brutal aggression” on the Gaza Strip to avoid “more losses,” the spokesperson for Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Majed Al-Ansari said in a statement on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Egyptian state-affiliated XtraNews said there are “intensive efforts” to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, citing Egyptian sources, without clarifying which parties have been communicated with. The news was carried on Egyptian state newspaper’s Al Ahram’s online website.

Hamas said in a statement that the head of its political bureau, Ismail Haniya, spoke with officials from Egypt, Qatar and the UN.

The Ministry of Health in Gaza said one person was killed in Wednesday’s attack. It named him as Muhammad Yusuf Saleh Abu Ta’ima, 25, and said he was killed in the bombing east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip.

A CNN producer in Gaza reported explosions in Khan Younis, Rafah and northern Gaza.

Shortly after, he saw at least six rockets fired from Gaza towards Israel. Sirens warning of incoming rockets sounded in the southern Israeli cities of Sderot and Ashkelon and the Lachish area, all near the Gaza Strip, the Israel Defense Forces said. Sirens later sounded in Tel Aviv, Israel’s main city on the Mediterranean coast, warning of potential incoming rocket fire.

Several locations in Israel suffered direct hits by rockets from Gaza, authorities said, but there were no immediate reports of casualties. A rocket landed near buildings and caused extensive damage in Ashkelon, pictures distributed by Israel Fire & Rescue Authority showed. A building in Kibbutz Nir Am also was hit, and a rocket landed in the garden of a house in Sderot.

One of the three Islamic Jihad commanders killed on Tuesday was working on capabilities to launch rockets from the West Bank toward Israel, IDF chief spokesman Hagari said at the time.

Rockets have never been fired from the West Bank into Israel.

Islamic Jihad confirmed three of its commanders were killed in the overnight operation along with their wives and children.

The commanders killed were Jihad Shaker Al-Ghannam, secretary of the Military Council in the al Quds Brigades; Khalil Salah al Bahtini, commander of the Northern Region in the al Quds Brigades; and Ezzedine, one of the leaders of the military wing of the al Quds Brigades in the West Bank, the group said.

Hagari said the operation had been planned since last Tuesday, when Islamic Jihad fired more than 100 rockets toward Israel following the death of its former spokesman while on hunger strike in an Israeli prison.

But, the IDF did not have the “operational conditions” until overnight Tuesday.

The IDF launched a further strike on Tuesday, saying its air force targeted “a terrorist squad” belonging to Islamic Jihad in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian ministry of health in Gaza said two people were killed and two others injured in that attack east of Khan Younis, although they have yet to identify them, bringing the death toll in Gaza to 15 on Tuesday.

Gaza is one of the most densely packed places in the world, an isolated coastal enclave of almost two million people crammed into 140 square miles.

Governed by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, the territory is largely cut off from the rest of the world by an Israeli blockade of Gaza’s land, air and sea dating back to 2007. Egypt controls Gaza’s southern border crossing, Rafah.

Israel has placed heavy restrictions on the freedom of civilian movement and controls the importation of basic goods into the narrow coastal strip.

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May 10, 2023
Severe storms including waterspouts possible for beachgoers along Gulf Coast this weekend | CNN

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CNN
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More than 20 million people in the Southeast have the potential for severe storms this weekend, including possible tornadoes, waterspouts, hail and damaging winds.

“Yet another round or two of severe weather and heavy rainfall is expected over the weekend,” the National Weather Service office in Tallahassee said. “Still some uncertainty in placement and timing, but the ceiling for this event may be a bit higher than Thursday’s event.”

Florida had more than 40 severe storm reports Thursday, including six tornado reports. Damage was reported in more than a dozen Florida counties, including Liberty County, where a tornado ripped through the town of Hosford Thursday afternoon. There was an additional tornado report in Palm Beach on Friday.

Saturday, there is a Level 2 of 5 slight risk for severe storms for parts of the Florida Panhandle and southern Georgia, including Tallahassee and Panama City, Florida, and Valdosta, Georgia.

A marginal risk for severe storms spreads from southeastern Louisiana to coastal South Carolina down to central Florida, including New Orleans, Mobile, Tampa, Jacksonville, Orlando and Savannah.

“Two rounds of strong to severe thunderstorms are expected across portions of Florida and southern Georgia this afternoon and overnight tonight with damaging winds, large hail, and a few tornadoes possible,” the Storm Prediction Center said Saturday morning. “More isolated severe storms are possible across parts of Mississippi and Alabama with an attendant damaging wind/hail threat.”

For the Sunshine State, Saturday will mark the third day in a row of severe thunderstorms.

It also means the ground across much of the Southeast is so wet, any additional rainfall could lead to localized flooding.

A slight risk for excessive rainfall, Level 2 of 4, has been issued for portions of Florida and Georgia, where rainfall could exceed 3 inches. A Level 1 marginal risk surrounds the area and stretches from coastal Mississippi over through coastal South Carolina.

Parts of northern Florida and southern Georgia could see up to 3 to 6 inches of rain, some of which is welcome with much of the state in drought conditions.

Unfortunately, most of the rain this weekend will be focused across the panhandle including Tallahassee, Pensacola, and Panama City, not the areas needing it most.

More than 65 percent of Florida is under drought conditions according to the latest drought monitor report issued Thursday. Severe drought conditions exist across much of central Florida and include Tampa, Orlando, Daytona Beach, Gainesville, and Naples.

More than 1300 acres have burned across the state of Florida from two separate fires the past few weeks due to dry conditions.

By Sunday, the potential for strong to severe thunderstorms shifts east and south, encompassing more than 25 million people. From Dover, Delaware, down to Savannah, Georgia, as well as central and southern Florida are all at risk of damaging winds, waterspouts, tornadoes and hail.

“The setup could potentially result in hazardous marine and beach conditions during the latter half of the upcoming weekend,” the weather service office in Miami said.

The good news is all the affected areas in the Southeast clear out by Monday with sunnier and drier conditions through at least the middle of the upcoming week.

On the northern side of this system, strong storms are also possible in the Mid-Atlantic where damaging winds and a possible tornado will be the main threats.

“The northern extent of the threat remains uncertain, but modest destabilization appears possible into at least the Delmarva region, where some threat for damaging gusts and possibly a tornado may develop late in the afternoon or evening as the surface low tracks across the area,” the prediction center said.

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April 29, 2023
Severe storms to strike the South again as millions in Texas could see damaging winds and hail | CNN

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CNN
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Parts of the South are yet again at risk of facing severe storms Friday that could bring damaging winds, large hail and the possibility of tornadoes to millions in north-central Texas.

More than 12 million people in Texas, including across the Dallas-Fort Worth area, are under a significant risk for severe thunderstorms, according to the Storm Prediction Center.

The storm’s most extreme impacts – which include damaging winds and hail at least 2 inches wide– are expected to hit north-central Texas between 3 p.m. and 9 p.m. CT, forecasters at the National Weather Service in Fort Worth said.

The looming conditions led the Storm Prediction Center to issue what it calls an enhanced risk of severe thunderstorms alert, a severity designation at Level 3 of 5, for those in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

“Large hail will be the primary threat with supercells, with a couple of instances of 3+ inch stones possible,” the prediction center warned.

Elsewhere, there is a slight risk, Level 2 of 5, for severe storms extending from southern Texas to the Texas-Oklahoma and Texas-Arkansas borders, where large hail, high winds and a couple of isolated tornadoes are possible, according to the prediction center. Cities in that risk area include Houston, San Antonio, Austin and Corpus Christi.

We have the potential for another round of severe storms on Friday afternoon and evening. Main hazards will be large hail and damaging winds, though a tornado or two is possible. This will include DFW and areas south. #dfwwx #ctxwx #txwx pic.twitter.com/HtnU5y1cH9

— NWS Fort Worth (@NWSFortWorth) April 27, 2023

The severe weather threat comes as another storm system triggered tornado reports, gusty winds and dangerously large hail in Texas and Florida this week.

On Thursday evening, the storm whipped up a tornado near Hosford, Florida, after which a dozen homes were destroyed and about 20 others were damaged, according to Rhonda Lewis, the head of Liberty County Emergency Management.

Six of the seven tornado reports recorded Thursday were across the Florida Panhandle, while one was in southwestern Georgia.

In addition to the tennis ball sized-hail that bombarded parts of Texas and Florida on Wednesday, hail 1.75 inches wide was also reported Thursday in multiple Florida cities, and thousands in northern Florida were left without power.

The two storm systems hitting the US on Friday have put about 56 million people in the South and Mid-Atlantic under thunderstorm risks.

The various levels of threats extend across the entire eastern half of Texas.

As for the Southeast, there’s a marginal risk for thunderstorms stretching from South Florida northward to Virginia. The warned area includes Miami, Jacksonville and Tampa in Florida; Savannah, Georgia; Charleston and Raleigh in the Carolinas; and Roanoke, Virginia.

No, we did not throw a bunch of greens and yellows onto an image. Rather, this is a model depiction of rain around 7am tomorrow morning. Nearly all of the area will be seeing rainfall later tonight into tomorrow with most areas seeing 1-2″ of rain by tomorrow evening. pic.twitter.com/GHHN54nUbA

— NWS Wakefield (@NWSWakefieldVA) April 28, 2023

“More rounds of heavy rain and severe weather expected to impact the southern tier states today and into early Friday, followed by portions of Texas by early Saturday,” the Weather Prediction Center said.

By Saturday, most of the severe weather will be winding down. While there’s still some uncertainty in the forecast, New Orleans, Montgomery and Mobile, Alabama, and Orlando and Tampa, Florida, could see damaging winds, hail and even an isolated tornado.

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April 27, 2023
Train derailment in Wisconsin sends 2 containers into the Mississippi River, operator says | CNN

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CNN
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A train derailment in southwestern Wisconsin on Thursday sent two derailed containers into the Mississippi River, and at least one crew member received medical attention, according to the train’s operator.

The train derailed around 12:15 p.m. local time near the village of De Soto, and all crew members have since been accounted for, according to BNSF Railway.

At least a dozen train cars were off the tracks, according to video that witness Caitlin Nolan shot. Other images on social media, along with the video Nolan shot, show some of the train cars in the river.

BNSF personnel were headed to the scene, and the cause of the incident is under investigation, the railway said.

The train was carrying hazardous materials, according to Marc Myhre, a Crawford County emergency management specialist. But none of hazardous materials, believed to be batteries, were in the train cars that went into the river, Myhre said.

BNSF said some of the containers that derailed – but stayed onshore and didn’t enter the water – contained paint and lithium-ion batteries. But neither of the two containers that went into the river contained hazardous materials, BNSF said.

“It was reported to us that there were hazardous materials on the train itself, but it is not believed to be a concern to the public or the responders at this time as those cars were contained,” Myhre said during a news conference.

The units that derailed were two of the train’s three locomotives and “an unknown number of cars carrying freight of all kinds,” BNSF said.

The main track was blocked in both directions after the incident, and an estimated time for reopening the track wasn’t available, BNSF said.

Heavy rain has recently brought parts of the Mississippi River to near flood stage, but the railroad tracks at the site of the derailment were above water, Myhre said.

National Transportation Safety Board Chair Jennifer Homendy told CNN the agency is gathering information about the derailment. The agency said it has not yet verified whether hazardous materials were on the train.

US Rep. Derrick Van Orden, who represents the area, said his office was coordinating with state officials, BNSF and the Federal Emergency Management Agency to “get answers on what occurred.”

The congressman’s staff was traveling to the site of the derailment and will “continue to monitor the situation and determine next steps,” his statement reads.

Nolan was on her way to college at around noon central time when she saw the derailed train, she told CNN in an interview.

“I didn’t see a fire or smell anything but witnessed multiple cars in the water on both sides of the tracks,” she told CNN. “There hadn’t been any emergency help until after I had passed by,” she said.

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April 27, 2023
‘You’ve underestimated us’: How McCarthy’s horse-trading stopped a GOP revolt in debt fight | CNN Politics

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CNN
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Speaker Kevin McCarthy rolled the dice.

As he took his short walk from the speaker’s suite to the House floor on Wednesday evening, the California Republican wasn’t entirely sure he would have the votes on the most important bill of his young speakership: To raise the $31.4 trillion national debt limit on Republican support alone.

McCarthy knew he was close but couldn’t guarantee it, according to a person familiar with the matter.

After months of internal discussions, the speaker had been engaged in round-the-clock talks with pockets of dissident members, cutting deals and horse-trading to pick off one GOP vote after another in his high-stakes fight – all an attempt to show the White House and the country that his party speaks with one voice on the consequential economic battle.

But one Republican member was absent on Wednesday – and some hard-right members would not explicitly say how they’d vote, forcing the speaker to make a risky bet. In the end, it was two Democratic absences that helped McCarthy: Allowing him to pass the bill on the narrowest of margins, 217-215, and now shifting the focus to the White House and Senate Democrats.

“We are the only ones to lift the debt limit to make sure this economy is not in jeopardy,” McCarthy beamed in the Capitol’s ornate Statuary Hall moments after the gavel came down, calling on President Joe Biden to negotiate a spending-cut deal he has resisted for months. He added: “You’ve underestimated us.”

It was an effort that was months in the making. Immediately after securing the speakership in a messy, 15-ballot race, McCarthy made the concerted decision to avoid the pitfalls of a predecessor, John Boehner, and allow rank-and-file members to feel like they could shape the ultimate package rather than being steamrolled by leadership. A dozen listening sessions were held by two members of his whip team, Reps. Tom Emmer of Minnesota and Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania, starting in February and continuing with them calling every member through this past weekend. Then there were regular meetings of the so-called “five families” – nicknamed after the mob families in “The Godfather” – that represent various ideological factions of the conference and were led by Rep. Garret Graves of Louisiana.

But even after they had agreed to an outline of their deal last week, McCarthy continued to run into pitfalls. In a meeting last week in the basement of the Capitol, he and his team moved to appease conservatives who wanted to target tax breaks for biofuels in the Democrats’ Inflation Reduction Act. McCarthy agreed, prompting a furious pushback by Iowa Republicans, including a tense phone call between Gov. Kim Reynolds and McCarthy.

It was an issue that could have derailed the bill and one that put McCarthy in familiar crosshairs between competing factions of his conference. But he ultimately cut a deal past 2 a.m. on Wednesday and helped move closer to securing the votes more than 15 hours later.

“They realized that you were not going to be able to steamroll four people from Iowa,” said Rep. Zach Nunn, an Iowa freshman, referring to the four GOP members of the delegation.

Yet more problems emerged, and McCarthy moved to head them off. Rep. Nancy Mace told reporters Wednesday morning she was ready to vote against the plan over her concerns it didn’t go far enough to balance the budget. But after an afternoon meeting in his office, the South Carolina Republican said she would back the plan. The promise, according to a source familiar with the matter: Votes on bills dealing with women’s access to reproductive health care and a vote on a bill dealing with active shooter alerts.

“I haven’t gotten rolled yet by the leadership on anything,” Mace said, defending her deal-cutting.

The ultimate plan would raise the debt limit by $1.5 trillion and propose to implement a slew of spending cuts to domestic programs, in addition to new work requirements on Medicaid beneficiaries and provisions targeting Biden’s domestic and regulatory agenda. It would save $4.8 trillion over the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office. But the $1.5 trillion increase would only last through March 2024 at the latest.

In a private meeting in the Capitol, GOP leaders debated how high of a debt limit increase they should seek. Some had floated odd numbers because it sounded more intentional than an even number. One member suggested $1.69 trillion, but that was rejected because of the innuendos associated with such a figure, according to three GOP sources. Ultimately, a $1. 5 trillion increase was the number they settled on.

Republicans say the deal-cutting that has since transpired was the result of new relationships forged from McCarthy’s drawn-out fight for the speaker’s gavel in January.

“Absolutely, it has reaped benefits to everyone in the conference,” Rep. French Hill, a Republican of Arkansas, said of the relationships that were formed.

But passing the bill was never a sure bet – something McCarthy sensed last week as he moved to appease conservatives and push for a repeal of energy tax breaks.

“This is going to come back to bite us,” McCarthy warned conservatives last week, according to a person in the room, as they demanded the bill repeal green energy tax credits and other provisions in the Inflation Reduction Act. McCarthy feared taking that step would unlock a process allowing the Senate to later jam the House on thorny tax-related provisions.

But he had a more immediate problem: The governor of Iowa.

A fired-up Reynolds, the two-term Republican governor, was on the phone with McCarthy on Tuesday, relaying concerns over the provision in his debt ceiling plan to repeal tax breaks for ethanol use, according to people familiar with the call, warning it would be detrimental to farmers in her state.

All four GOP members of the Iowa delegation, who were also in constant communication with the governor, informed leadership in a Tuesday night meeting that clawing back the tax credits was a “red line” for them, according to sources in the room.

McCarthy now had a math problem. His allies had believed that the Iowa Republicans, some of the closest allies of leadership, would swallow the provisions and ultimately side with their party in their high-stakes fight with the White House. But they had miscalculated, forcing the speaker to cut a last-ditch deal after repeatedly insisting they would not open the bill to changes.

Nunn, the Iowa Republican, told CNN he learned about the deal at around 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, when Graves came to his office along with Rep. Michelle Fischbach, a Minnesota Republican who had similar issues with the ethanol provisions.

“We had been in conversation throughout the entire day, but by Tuesday, we had really ratcheted up,” Nunn told CNN. “Iowa nice also means Iowa stubborn.”

It was an issue that GOP leaders had sought to avoid. They had worried that if they cut a deal with the Iowa delegation, they would have to make similar deals with members from fossil-fuel heavy districts in order to make them happy.

And the leadership knew if they were going to make 11th-hour changes to appease Midwestern Republicans, they’d have to offer some concessions to conservatives as well, and ultimately agreed to a faster implementation of the Medicaid work requirements. Yet even that wasn’t enough to satisfy some conservatives who had been pushing for that change – namely GOP Rep. Matt Gaetz of Florida, who was upset that the deal was cut at the last minute after the leaders said they wouldn’t change the bill, according to people familiar with the matter. He was one of four who later voted against the plan.

Rep. Ken Buck, a member of the whip team, said in the end, he voted “no” because the GOP bill didn’t do enough to reduce the deficit. The Colorado Republican told CNN, “$58 trillion with Biden’s numbers and $53 trillion, it’s just too much debt.”

But one member that McCarthy had been lobbying came through: freshman Rep. Eli Crane. The Arizona Republican had been wavering on the bill and was being heavily whipped by leadership, but said he ultimately backed the legislation because of his constituents.

“We conducted a poll at a teletown hall last night and the people that responded overwhelmingly supported this bill,” he told CNN. “It kind of surprised me, honestly.”

With this victory secured, McCarthy could later have an even bigger test on his hands: If he is forced to ask his conference to get behind any deal with Biden to raise the debt limit – something that almost certainly wouldn’t go as far as the House plan for spending cuts.

His members are watching him closely.

“What Kevin has assured us is he’s not coming back and presenting a watered-down version,” said Rep. Ralph Norman of South Carolina, a member of the House Freedom Caucus.

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April 26, 2023
Russia’s shadowy energy trade is raising fears of a devastating oil spill | CNN Business

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CNN
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The waters of the Bay of Lakonikos, on the south-eastern side of Greece’s Peloponnese peninsula, are a bright turquoise color. Its shores are an important nesting site for sea turtles.

Yet it’s not just a place of natural beauty. The area has become a key hub for tankers carrying Russian energy exports.

As crude and refined petroleum products that would usually go to the European Union are rerouted to Asia — with most seaborne oil imports banned by the bloc in response to Moscow’s assault on Ukraine — cargoes are being transferred here onto larger vessels to make the long trip.

Ship-to-ship transfers of Russian crude have mushroomed in recent months, reaching a record high during the first three months of the year, according to data from S&P Global, a research firm. Near Greece, more than 3.5 million barrels of Russian gasoil, a refined product used in heating and transport systems, were transferred between ships in March. That’s more than seven times the volume tallied by S&P Global for that month in 2022.

The transfers highlight the dramatic transformation of the global oil market since President Vladimir Putin ordered a full-scale invasion of Ukraine nearly 14 months ago. As China, India and Turkey fill the void left by Europe, once the top buyer of Russian oil and oil products, trips have lengthened, requiring more ships — and S&P Global data indicates mid-journey handoffs have become more common.

“We’ve seen a big increase in ship transfers in the Mediterranean,” said Matthew Wright, senior freight analyst at Kpler, a data group. “Smaller vessels come in from Russian ports, they transfer the cargoes onto larger vessels, and then those larger vessels will head off to Asia.”

Many of these ships are part of what’s become known as the “gray fleet.” Industry insiders like Wright use this term to refer to vessels that started carrying Russian oil in the past year. For many, little is known about their owners, which may be a shell company.

The “gray fleet” isn’t necessarily doing anything underhanded. But Western observers like Wright say the emergence of this network, where ownership is often masked, has reduced transparency in the oil market, making it harder for regulators to keep watch.

Australia, Canada and United States recently said in a submission to the International Maritime Organization that more ships were illegally turning off their transponders, or “going dark,” before transferring oil in international waters. Switching off transponders, which transmit location data, can be a way of dodging sanctions, they said.

Fred Kenney, the IMO’s director of legal and external affairs, told CNN that alarm about this practice had grown over the past year. Collisions are more likely in such cases, raising the odds of a devastating oil spill.

It’s also harder to tell whether the vessels with murky ownership comply with the strict rules governing oil transfers at sea, according to Kenney.

“There is a significant level of concern that the regulatory regime that ensures safe and secure shipping on clean oceans is being undermined,” he said.

Russia’s oil export volumes have rebounded to levels last seen before it invaded Ukraine, according to the International Energy Agency, although the country is still grappling with a sharp drop in revenue from these exports. Group of Seven nations have imposed a cap on the price of Russian oil and oil products, and a smaller pool of buyers can also negotiate greater discounts.

China’s imports of Russian oil in the first quarter of the year rose 38% compared with a year prior, according to Kpler data. India’s have skyrocketed almost tenfold.

As trade of Russian oil has become more complex, many Western shippers have pulled back. New, more opaque players have stepped in, contributing to the formation of the “gray fleet.”

According to VesselsValue, a UK-based market intelligence firm, sales of oil tankers to newly formed companies or undisclosed buyers account for roughly 33% of tanker deals so far this year. Sales to unknown buyers accounted for just 10% of the total in 2022 and 4% in 2021.

Using satellite images from space technology firm Maxar, CNN was able to home in on pairs of oil tankers dotting the Bay of Lakonikos. Together with Kpler, CNN has worked out the details of one of the transfers.

According to data from the two ships’ transponders, the smaller tanker docked in St. Petersburg, Russia, where it picked up a cargo of fuel oil in late February. CNN then tracked it around Western Europe to the Mediterranean Sea. At that point, it unloaded its cargo onto the larger ship that had arrived from the direction of the Black Sea port of Novorossiysk in Russia. Kpler considers this vessel to be part of the “gray fleet.”

From there, the larger tanker continued through the Suez Canal, the primary sea route from Europe to Asia.

As transactions such as these become more common, experts are growing increasingly worried about the risks.

While transferring oil from one ship to another is not unusual, Kenney of the IMO said “gray fleet” ships — more difficult to monitor if it’s not clear who owns them — might not be following best practices.

“There [are] myriad things that can go wrong in a ship-to-ship transfer, which is why there is a comprehensive set of industry rules that govern these transfers,” he said, noting the potential for a spill.

Canada, Japan and the United Kingdom have pointed out that there is a higher risk of accidental collisions between ships if transponders are turned off. Kpler documented multiple instances of this practice, which is almost always illegal, in 2022.

“When we see ships, or we get reports of ships turning off their transponders, it’s concerning to us,” Kenney said.

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April 23, 2023
New Jersey residents warned of potentially hazardous chemicals following fire and cleanup at former industrial site | CNN

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CNN
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Residents and business owners in parts of Monmouth County, New Jersey, have been warned of potentially hazardous materials at a nearby former industrial site after firefighters found leaking containers and materials on fire at the location.

The US Environmental Protection Agency has started overseeing the sampling and removal of around 200 to 300 chemical drums and containers found at the former manufacturing facility in Howell Township, it said in an April community update. It is not yet clear what type of chemicals the drums and containers hold, the EPA said.

EPA spokesperson Stephen McBay told CNN Sunday there is “no immediate need for evacuations” as the agency actively conducts cleanup at the site.

The cleanup comes after a local fire department discovered materials burning inside an old metal structure at the site on February 9, the EPA said. Firefighters found numerous drums and smelled a chemical odor before putting out the fire and called in other agencies for support in addressing potentially hazardous materials.

In March, the EPA said the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection assessed the site and found roughly “200 to 300 55-gallon drums and containers, many of which were either bulging, rusting, denting, or leaking.”

The department then asked for assistance from the EPA, which said it found “breaches in the front fence of the property and no fence securing any other side of the property.” The EPA also observed containers that were leaking and labeled as hazardous materials, it said.

The site is the former location of Compounders Inc., which manufactured chemical compounds, including glues, adhesives, and asphalt materials, according to the EPA. Compounders operated until 2019. The current owner – who has not been publicly identified – purchased the business in 2021.

When asked by CNN if criminal charges are pending over the disposal of potentially hazardous material at the site, the EPA’s McBay said the agency “does not provide information on ongoing or potentially ongoing enforcement actions.”

Resident and business owners within a mile of the site were sent a letter on March 30 from the Howell Township Office of Emergency Management, warning of potential hazardous materials at the site. In addition to the large number of drums found, the letter said authorities also found “spilled materials on the ground and open drums, as well as solid waste.”

The letter included links to Howell Township’s website, with community updates on the EPA’s work at the site. On March 9, advice was posted for evacuation routes around the 15 Marl Road site to be used in case of an emergency event, such as a fire.

Residents at a community meeting on March 21 were told the evacuation plan was created “out of an abundance of caution.”

There are at least three schools and two child care centers in the area, according to an April community update.

The letter from the township’s Office of Emergency Management added, “We estimate the risk of a release of any potential hazardous material to be very low. After all drums are removed from the property, an investigation will be ongoing with the State NJDEP and EPA to determine what, if any, impacts have occurred to groundwater, soil or surface water.”

The EPA has placed 24/7 security on the property and said it has installed a perimeter fence “to ensure there is no illegal trespassing on or around the site.”

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April 23, 2023