Hundreds of NGOs call for import ban on Russian oil, gas

AFP 

Hundreds of civil society groups and NGOs Friday called on governments worldwide to "reject and ban any import of fossil fuels from Russia" in order to cut off the main source of revenue for Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine.

© Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD 

Some 40 percent of Europe's natural gas needs are supplied by Russia

It is "clear that this war machine has been funded, fed and fuelled by the coal, oil and gas industries that are driving both the invasion threatening Ukraine and the climate crisis threatening humanity's future," they said in an open letter.

"Putin's income streams must be dried out as soon as possible," said the letter, signed by the World Council of Churches, 350.org, Greenpeace and CAN International, an umbrella organisation of more than 1,500 climate NGOs.

Approximately 40 percent of Russia's federal budget comes from oil and gas revenues, which also make up about three-fifths of Russian exports.

"Putin has deliberately weaponized fossil gas to increase his existing energy dominance over the European Union and to threaten European nations that would come to Ukraine's aid," the letter said. "This needs to stop!"

Some 40 percent of Europe's natural gas needs are supplied by Russia, with Germany, Hungary and Slovakia especially dependent.

"We call on you to urgently work with your European colleagues on ending this fossil fuel addiction once and for all," said the letter, addressing other importers of Russian oil and gas, such as the United States, Canada, China, India and Japan.

The signatories also included Ukrainian officials and numerous civil society organisations.

Roman Shakhmatenko, Ukraine's deputy environment minister, called on the world to "stop being indifferent".

Countries should not simply replace Russian-produced fossil fuels with coal, oil and gas from other countries in order to avoid the worst ravages of global warming, the NGOs warned.

A landmark UN report on climate impacts released this week reports a measurable increase in deadly storms, heatwaves, droughts and rainfall events all made worse by rising temperatures, with projections of far worse to come.

On the last day of the 195-nation closed-door conference leading up to the report's release, Ukraine's head of delegation made a similar plea.

"We will not surrender in Ukraine, and we hope the world will not surrender in building a climate resilient future," Svitlana Krakovska told the closing plenary in English, according to multiple sources.

"Human-induced climate change and the war on Ukraine have the same roots -- fossil fuels -- and our dependence on them."

mh/klm/pvh

Ukraine: a nuclear-powered nation under fire

Issued on: 04/03/2022 -

Ukraine's nuclear power plants Eléonore HUGHES AFP

Paris (AFP) – The Russian shelling of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine -- the largest in Europe -- has sparked international outrage and fears over the country's 15 operational reactors.

The Zaporizhzhia reactors, apparently undamaged by the attack, were taken over by invading Russian forces that have also stationed themselves at Chernobyl, the site of the worst civilian nuclear disaster in history.

Experts have condemned the attack, while stressing that Ukraine's modern reactors are built to withstand most human-caused and natural impacts.

Here's what we know about nuclear power in Ukraine:

- Nuclear-powered nation -

Ukraine is the seventh-largest producer of nuclear electricity in the world, according to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) figures for 2020.

The country, which relies on nuclear energy for more than half of its power supply, has made significant improvements in nuclear safety over the years, experts say.

Zaporizhzhia has six of the country's 15 reactors and can create enough energy for four million homes.

The plant is "relatively modern", said Mark Wenman of Imperial College London, noting its reactor components are housed inside a heavily reinforced containment building that can "withstand extreme external events, both natural and man-made, such as an aircraft crash or explosions".

"The design is a lot different to the Chernobyl reactor, which did not have a containment building, and hence there is no real risk, in my opinion, at the plant now [that] the reactors have been safely shut down," he told the Science Media Centre.

The battle at the site caused a fire at an adjacent training facility, IAEA chief Rafael Grossi said early Friday.

He said only one of the six reactors was operating at about 60 percent, another had been undergoing maintenance, two were in "safety-controlled shutdown" and the last two "were already being held in reserve and are operating in low-power mode".

Ukrainian monitors say there has been no spike in radiation.

Conflict fears

Earlier this week Greenpeace warned that the Russian invasion risks a "nightmare scenario" at one of the country's nuclear sites, potentially involving an explosion that caused cooling systems to fail and large amounts of radioactivity to be spread on the wind.

This, the charity said in an analysis focusing on Zaporizhzhia, could render large parts of Europe and Russia "uninhabitable for at least many decades".

The main risk now is a loss of the power supply as the plant needs water and electricity to operate the safety systems and cool the reactor core, according to Karine Herviou, Deputy Director General of the French Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety.

But the site has emergency generators, which normally have fuel to operate for seven to 10 days, as well as water reserves.

The other risk is direct aggression.

Herviou said the containment buildings offer protection to a point "but it all depends on what we are talking about".

An attack that hit another part of the plant could affect safety systems, she added.
Chernobyl

Ukraine, which has significant uranium reserves, began developing nuclear power in the 1970s -- when it was still a part of the USSR -- with the construction of Chernobyl.

The 1986 Chernobyl disaster left hundreds dead and spread radioactive contamination west across Europe.

Damaged Reactor No. 4 was initially covered by a temporary sarcophagus, then by a containment arch completed in 2017.

Russia seized the site on February 24.

The Ukrainian authorities have recently noted an increase in radiation at Chernobyl, but the IAEA has said the levels measured pose no danger to the public.

Experts have speculated that military activity around the site may have kicked up contaminated dust.

Ukraine's current stock of reactors are Soviet or Russian-designed VVERs, which are pressurised water reactors.

"Ukraine receives most of its nuclear services and nuclear fuel from Russia," says the World Nuclear Association, although it has noted that the country had already begun "reducing this dependence".

The nuclear operator Energoatom has recently turned to the US firm Westinghouse to build new reactors.

LA REVUE GAUCHE - Left Comment: Search results for CHERNOBYL 

'We call on President Putin to stop this war immediately', NATO Secretary General says

Issued on: 04/03/2022 -

00:31

"This is President Putin's war, one he has chosen, planned and is waging against a peaceful country. We call on PresidentPutin to stop this war immediately, withdrawal all his forces without conditions and engage in genuine diplomacy now," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference on Friday (March 4).

Analysis: NATO rejects calls for no-fly zone over Ukraine

Issued on: 04/03/2022 

03:59
Video by: Douglas HERBERT

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday (March 5) said the alliance would not impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine after calls from Kyiv to help stop Russia's bombardments. FRANCE 24's Douglas Herbert gives his analysis.

What can NATO do about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine?

Issued on: 04/03/2022 

04:23
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday (March 4) said the alliance would not impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine after calls from Kyiv to help stop Russia's bombardments. Natia Seskuria, Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, gives her analysis.

NATO emergency meeting: "Sanctions will have an effect"

Thornike GORDADZE, Senior Fellow IISS

Issued on: 04/03/2022 -

 

07:47

REPLAY: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg gives press conference after meeting over Ukraine

Issued on: 04/03/2022 - 

33:48

NATO's chief said on Friday (March 4) the Western military alliance would not set up a no-fly zone over Ukraine nor send its troops there, but promised other help to Kyiv and urged President Vladimir Putin to end immediately Russia's invasion.

Residents of Kyiv do whatever it takes to resist Russian invasion

Mehdi CHEBIL 

Residents in Kyiv have organised huge resistance efforts to deter the Russian invasion. On the ninth day of the conflict, FRANCE 24 joined the civilian and military forces who have sworn to defend the Ukrainian capital against Putin’s army.

© Mehdi Chebil

Trellis fencing, combat boots, sleeping bags: Kostya Kravets throws anything he thinks might be useful into two large black sports bags. The 43-year-old accountant knows that his Territorial Defence unit needs anything and everything he can provide.

“The absolute priority at the moment is bullet-proof vests and helmets. We also need drones, walkie-talkies and diesel generators,“ Kravets tells FRANCE 24, before leaving for his base in Tarasivka in southwest Kyiv. Every minute counts in the fight to fortify the capital and surrounding areas.

He has barely left before others enter the ordinary-looking building in Kyiv, now transformed into a hive of resistance operations. Entire rooms have been set aside for storing medicine, water, clothes and electronics. Similar hubs have opened up around the capital since the start of the war. The sense of solidarity, the flood of donations and the dedication of volunteers contains echoes of Ukraine’s Maidan Revolution in 2014 – a series of violent protests that overthrew the country’s Russia-backed government.

Today, the juggernaut of the Russian military may be in close proximity, but it has not dented the spirit of the resistance.

'We are 100% ready'

“From a military perspective, we are 100% ready. The Russians are going to try and enter Kyiv, but they’re going to realise it’s impossible … They have swallowed their own propaganda and think the Ukrainians are going to welcome them with flowers,” says Serhiy Prytula, a politician and former actor who is running the logistics hub.

“The Russians still don’t understand where they are.”

Prytula, who became well known in Ukraine from TV shows such as The Voice, says there is a waiting list of “more than 1,500 people” for a bullet-proof vest. An international effort to transport large quantities of ballistic protection and other equipment from Poland via Lviv has been set up.

Efforts among volunteers mean that the Territorial Defence Forces – the second front of the resistance in Kyiv – have been provided with equipment. The civil reserve forces received arms as soon as Russia invaded Ukraine.

“We need the Territorial Defence Force so that the army can concentrate on combat operations. The whole country is now part of territorial defence,” says Prytula.

The reserve fighters, who wear yellow arm bands, have become omnipresent in the streets of Kyiv. They can be found in large numbers in the northern quarters of the capital, where Russian reconnaissance fighters launched their first attacks at the start of the conflict.

Inexperienced but motivated

“Our objective is to carry out vehicle checks, verify documents, search for saboteurs, enforce the curfew and prevent looting,” says Oleg, a neighbourhood supervisor with the Territorial Defence in northern Kyiv. The 50-year-old business man has the air of a typical new recruit: inexperienced but motivated. He was overseas when Russia invaded Ukraine, but quickly returned to Kyiv by car to defend his country.

“We have seen how the Russian world works. There is no choice, no elections, we have to obey someone chosen in Moscow,” he says. Oleg is originally from east Ukraine and spent one year living in administrative zones run by Luhansk separatists in Donbas.

“Ukraine is free. It is a place where we can speak freely and disagree … We didn’t want war, but now we have no choice. We have to fight.”

'We won’t stay at home'

This opinion is shared by a group in their 20s, who have come to help strengthen a checkpoint by digging trenches. The excavated earth is then shovelled into white bags and used to barricade positions held by members of the Territorial Defence.

“My uncle has already signed up. My boyfriend and I called, and have even been to the recruitment centre twice since the invasion started. We don’t want to stay at home, and we won’t stay at home,” says economics student Marina Mahdenko.

She celebrated her 23rd birthday on March 1, the same day that Russian strikes destroyed the television tower in Kyiv. As she lives nearby she heard the explosions, which killed five people. For her and her friends, there is no question of spending the rest of their lives in a state subjugated by Moscow.

'We want to be alongside the army'

This flood of volunteers joining the Territorial Defence Force has allowed more experienced fighters to take the fight forwards, knowing that someone is covering their backs.

“We want to be alongside the army, taking the offensive and killing invaders,” says one such fighter, 54-year-old Evgeniy Yarantsev.

He is stationed around 10 kilometres northeast of Oleg and Marina’s checkpoint, near to Hostomel Airport.

His troop has been engaged in relentless fighting at the strategic site since the first day of the invasion, when Russian paratroopers attempted a surprise attack.

“Of the 200 airborne troops that tried to capture the airport so that Russian planes could land here, two-thirds were killed and the rest are in position in nearby forests … We had good results in the first few days,” he says, smiling to reveal multiple gold teeth. Nonetheless, the veteran expects a long, hard war. Some in his troop have already been killed and injured; Yarantsev already has a slight injury to his left eye.

Those losses have done little to dampen morale among the soldiers, and this troop in particular shares a long and bloody history. Most met for the first time on the barricades during the Maidan Revolution before forming an autonomous troop to fight separatist, pro-Russian forces in Donbas.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has reunited them to fight the biggest battle of their lives. To mark the occasion, Yarantsev baptised the group the “Conan Unit” after the 1982 film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as Conan the Barbarian. Perhaps an omen of the epic battles to come.

This story was translated from the original in French

War in Ukraine: The situation in Kyiv
Issued on: 04/03/2022

01:28

Tens of thousands of residents have fled Ukraine's capital to the relative safety of the west of Ukraine and neighbouring countries but many others remain in Kyiv.

Mass exodus in Ukraine as residents flee Russian invasion
Issued on: 04/03/2022

02:16

More than 1.2 million people have fled Ukraine into neighbouring countries since Russia launched its full-scale invasion on February 24, United Nations figures showed Friday. FRANCE 24's Cyril Payen reports from Ukraine.

War in Ukraine: Russian bombing continues

Issued on: 04/03/2022 

01:43
Russia has intensified strikes across the country during the nine days of conflict, with fresh reports of civilian casualties and devastating damage, particularly in southern areas near Kherson, the first major city to fall to Moscow's troops.

Months after pledge, India yet to submit emissions targets
By ANIRUDDHA GHOSAL

today

Smoke rises from a coal-powered steel plant at Hehal village near Ranchi, in eastern state of Jharkhand, Sunday, Sept. 26, 2021. India has yet to submit its targets for cutting greenhouse emissions to the U.N climate agency. Four months have passed since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced its 'net-zero' target and short-term goals for increasing clean energy.

 (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri,file)


NEW DELHI (AP) — Four months after India announced its “net-zero” target at the United Nations climate conference in Glasgow, the country has yet to submit its targets for cutting greenhouse emissions, underscoring the difficulty of overhauling energy policy amid a growing population.

When asked about the delay during an unrelated event in the capital New Delhi on Tuesday, Indian environment minister Bhupender Yadav downplayed it, saying that several ministries were still discussing the matter to chart out a roadmap.

India’s Ministry of Environment, which drafts the targets and submits them to the UN Climate Agency, and the country’s top federal official in the Ministry of Power, did not respond to requests for comment this week.

“We don’t have time anymore” to wait for all countries to start reducing emissions, said New Climate Institute scientist Niklas Höhne, who tracks emission pledges for Climate Action Tracker.

Höhne added that it would be useful if India specified targets achievable with its own resources and formulated a clear plan for what could achieved with financial help from other nations.

During November’s conference in Glasgow, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said his nation would stop adding greenhouses gases to the atmosphere by 2070 -- two decades after the U.S., and 10 years after China. He said that India would increase its current capacity for non-fossil fuel electricity to 500 gigawatts and use energy from clean sources to meet half of its needs. Modi also said that India would cut carbon emissions by a billion tons compared with the previous target and reduce the carbon intensity of its economy by 45%.

Since these 2030 targets for cutting greenhouse gas emissions haven’t yet been submitted to the U.N. climate agency, they can’t yet be counted towards the global effort.

India is not the only country to be slow to turn in targets. The 2015 Paris agreement on climate, which India signed, required countries to submit their climate targets, called Nationally Determined Contributions, by the end of 2020. Many nations missed that deadline. The more urgent deadline was to get submission in before the November negotiations in Glasgow and most nations did. Of the five top emitting nations, only India has not submitted its plans.

The delays underscore the challenges that India faces in achieving these goals. A parliamentary committee calculated that India would require over $20 billion in investment to meet its clean energy targets while only half of that was available — prompting the opposition to ask the government whether it formulated a clear roadmap before committing internationally.

India’s role is key for the world’s climate targets. It has the third-highest emissions in the world, after China and the United States, and its energy needs are expected to grow faster than any other country in the coming decades. At the same time, historically it has contributed least to the world’s cumulative emissions among the group of 20 industrial nations known as the G20.

The typical American, for instance, uses 16 times more electricity than the average Indian, according to data from the World Bank.

Many in the South Asian country of 1.4 billion residents still live in poverty and its leaders have consistently argued that it needs the “carbon space” to grow. Even in the most optimistic scenario, some of India’s future energy needs will have to be met through coal -- the single biggest source of greenhouse gas emissions.

This was partly why the country had demanded a last-minute change to crucial language during the U.N. climate conference to “phase down” rather than “phase out” coal power. India said that developing countries were “entitled to the responsible use of fossil fuels” for their growth and blamed “unsustainable lifestyles and wasteful consumption patterns” of rich countries for the current climate catastrophe.

 Women walk past as flames rise out of fissures in the ground above coal mines in the village of Liloripathra near Dhanbad, an eastern Indian city in Jharkhand state, Friday, Sept. 24, 2021. India has yet to submit its targets for cutting greenhouse emissions to the U.N climate agency. Four months have passed since Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced its 'net-zero' target and short-term goals for increasing clean energy. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri,file)

In any case, India faces the same reality that other nations do: Unless emissions are drastically reduced, large parts of the world will become uninhabitable due to climate shocks like deadly fires, floods, and unlivable heat, a new U.N. report said Monday. The country lost $87 billion in 2020 because of natural disasters like cyclones, floods and droughts, according to the World Meteorological Organization.

At Glasgow, Modi had stressed that India’s goals couldn’t be achieved without adequate climate finance, a stand that India has long reiterated, and called for rich countries to provide $1 trillion in help.

The lack of finance is a vital stumbling block, said Harjeet Singh, an advisor with the Climate Action Network International. He said that if he were to put himself in the shoes of a finance minister of a developing country like India, “How do I do it if I don’t see a stream of funding? Rich countries are failing in their commitment.”

Singh said that there was some hope in the plan announced by the U.S., Britain, France and Germany to provide $8.5 billion in loans and grants over five years to help South Africa phase out coal, a source of 90% of its electricity. But he added that it remained to be seen if that money would make it to those most impacted.

India’s opposition parliamentarians criticized the government for not consulting with chief ministers or state leaders before announcing India’s net-zero targets in December in the parliament. Parliamentarian Kanimozhi Karunanidhi said that India had only a fraction of the solar energy needed to meet what had been promised at Glasgow.

“I want to know how can we achieve so much? What we’ve done is nothing compared to what we’ve promised to the world,” said Karunanidhi, from Thoothukkudi in southern India.

__ Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receive support from several private foundations. See more about AP’s climate initiative here. The AP is solely responsible for all content.

Study: Viewing X-rays, other imaging tests can prompt healthy behavior changes

Showing patients results from imaging tests may prompt them to change behaviors that place their health at risk, a new study has found. 

Photo by Puwadol Jaturawutthichai/Shutterstock

March 3 (UPI) -- People shown images from x-rays and ultrasound scans that indicate their potential risk for developing cancers and other diseases are more likely to make lifestyle changes to improve their health, an analysis published Thursday by PLOS Medicine found.

Adults who underwent imaging procedures such as computed tomography, ultrasound and radiography and then shown the results were up to nearly three times more likely to modify behaviors that had increased their risk for certain diseases compared to those who did not see the images, the data showed.

The most common changes made after seeing their imaging results included quitting smoking, exercising more, eating healthier diets, protecting their skin from the sun and improving oral hygiene, the researchers said.

Many participants also started taking medications designed to control blood pressure, cholesterol levels and blood sugar after seeing their imaging results, according to the researchers.

"Medical imaging scans are used ever more widely by healthcare professionals," study co-author Gareth Hollands said in a press release.

"This study suggests that showing the scan results to patients to highlight the state of their health could motivate them to behave in a healthier way," said Hollands, a senior research associate at the University of Cambridge in England.

The findings are based on an analysis of data from 21 previous studies from the United States and Europe that collectively enrolled more than 9,000 adult participants, the researchers said.

Participants were shown either visual examples of personalized risk information after an imaging procedure, such as computed tomography, ultrasound or radiography, in addition to reading health information or advice. Or they received health information or advice with no visual examples.

Computed tomography is a computerized X-ray imaging procedure in which narrow beams of X-rays are used to capture 3D images of body parts, including organs, according to the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

The technology typically is used to spot cancerous tumors, as well as potential damage to the heart caused by heart disease, among other applications, the institute says.

Diagnostic ultrasound, also called sonography or diagnostic medical sonography, also is a non-invasive imaging approach that uses high-frequency sound waves to produce pictures of structures within the body.

Commonly used to assess fetal health during pregnancy, these images can provide valuable information for diagnosing and treating a variety of diseases and conditions, including those that affect the digestive tract, according to the institute.

Radiography, a type of X-ray technology that provides two-dimensional images typically is used to diagnose bone and joint diseases, the institute says.

Non-communicable diseases, such as diabetes, heart disease and cancer, account for more than two-thirds of deaths globally each year, the World Health Organization estimates.

Many of these diseases are linked with behaviors such as smoking, poor diet and lack of physical exercise, Hollands and his colleagues said.

Behavior change can reduce a person's risk for many diseases, the researchers said.

In the studies included in this analysis, patients shown their imaging results were more likely to quit or reduce tobacco use, eat a healthier diet, engage in more physical activity and take steps to improve oral hygiene, according to the researchers.

Some of the included studies also indicated that patients shown imaging results stopped tanning bed use to reduce their risk for skin cancers and increased skin self-examination, the researchers said.

The growth of medical imaging technology could be capitalized on to help people change and reduce disease risks, they said.

BIDEN STILL GETS NO LOVE
U.S. economy smashes expectations with close to 700,000 new jobs in February
By UPI Staff

Friday's report said that job growth was widespread, led by gains in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, healthcare and construction. File Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI | License Photo

March 4 (UPI) -- The U.S. economy added close to 700,000 jobs during the month of February, the Labor Department said Friday in its monthly assessment -- marking the second straight month that the jobs report soared past expectations.

The department said there were 678,000 new jobs last month. Most economists predicted that the report would show about 440,000 new jobs.

FULL EMPLOYMENT BY ANY OTHER NAME

"The unemployment rate edged down to 3.8%," the department said in a statement. "Job growth was widespread, led by gains in leisure and hospitality, professional and business services, healthcare and construction."

Earlier this week, ADP and Moody's Analytics said in their monthly labor snapshot that the economy added 475,000 private-sector jobs during February, substantially more than analysts expected.

RELATED U.S. economy added 475K private jobs in February, ADP/Moody's report says

The new report noted, however, that the total U.S. workforce is still about 2 million jobs shy of where it was two years ago, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Today's report shows that my plan to build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out is working to get America back to work," President Joe Biden said in a statement Friday.

"Since I took office, the economy has created 7.4 million jobs. That's 7.4 million jobs providing families with dignity and a little more breathing room."

By sector, the report said that leisure and hospitality added about 180,000 jobs, professional and business services added almost 100,000 and healthcare 64,000.

The department also noted that average hourly earnings for American workers have increased by 5.1% over the past year to $31.58 in February, although it was up just one cent from January.

Friday's was the second consecutive jobs report that surprised leading economists with a positive performance. The January jobs report also surprised just about everyone a month ago when it showed an addition of almost 470,000 new jobs. Analysts were expecting only 150,000.

President Joe Biden is seen on a television screen at the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street in New York City on February 24.

 Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

RELATED Full Text: President Joe Biden's 2022 State of the Union address

In his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Biden underscored that the economy added 6.5 million new jobs during 2021 and pledged moves that will create more, such as the bipartisan infrastructure law.

"This progress is the result of the new economic approach I talked about in the State of the Union -- grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out," Biden added. "And it's a result of our success combating COVID-19 and moving forward safely."

Earlier Friday, the White House announced a move by Siemens USA for a $54 million expansion that is expected to produce hundreds of new jobs.

"President Biden will also announce the most robust updates to the implementation of the Buy American Act in nearly 70 years to ensure taxpayer dollars create good-paying jobs here at home, strengthen critical supply chains and position U.S. businesses to compete in strategic industries," the White House said in a statement.

Phenomenon thought to be closest black hole is actually a 'stellar vampire'

By Calley Hair

New research indicates that HR 6819, previously believed to be a triple system with a black hole, is in fact a system of two stars with no black hole. This artist’s impression shows what the system might look like; it’s composed of a "vampire" star with a disc around it in the foreground and star that has been stripped of its atmosphere in the background. Illustration by L. Calçada/ESO

March 2 (UPI) -- Astronomers on Wednesday announced new findings indicating that an interstellar system 1,000 light years away from Earth does not actually include a black hole, a reversal of a previous observation.

If it did exist, the black hole in the HR 6819 system located in the constellation Telescopium would have been the closest to Earth. When a team of researchers examined the movement of two stars in 2020, the first star orbited the second while the second star moved in a wider orbit. They believed there had to be a black hole at the center to explain the pattern.

But astronomers now say it's a case of mistaken identity. The stars' movement is the result of a common but short-lived phenomenon called "stellar vampirism." One star is stripping away and absorbing mass from the other, according to the study published Wednesday in Astronomy & Astrophysics.

The debunking team included the scientist who thought he discovered the black hole two years ago, European Southern Observatory astronomer Thomas Rivinius, as well as ESO fellow Julia Bodensteiner and Abigail Frost of Belgian university KU Leuven.

"We agreed that there were two sources of light in the system, so the question was whether they orbit each other closely, as in the stripped-star scenario, or are far apart from each other, as in the black hole scenario," Rivinius said in an ESO press release.

To analyze fresh data, the team used an instrument on the ESO's Very Large Telescope called the Multi Unit Spectroscopic Explorer, as well as a tool on the Very Large Telescope Interferometer called GRAVITY.

"These data proved to be the final piece of the puzzle, and allowed us to conclude that HR 6819 is a binary system with no black hole," Frost said.

Frost, the new study's leader, added that catching a binary star system in a vampiric phase "is extremely difficult as it is so short."

"This makes our findings for HR 6819 very exciting, as it presents a perfect candidate to study how this vampirism affects the evolution of massive stars, and in turn the formation of their associated phenomena including gravitational waves and violent supernova explosions," Frost said.

Bodensteiner explained that the team likely observed the system just after one star had sucked the atmosphere off its companion, causing the vampire star to rotate more rapidly.

"This is a common phenomenon in close binary systems," Bodensteiner said.

Russian lawmakers pass bill that bans false news reports about war in Ukraine


Lawmakers in the parliamentary Duma, pictured, passed a bill Friday that seeks to quell independent media reports and bar them from describing Moscow's military campaign in Ukraine as a "war" or "invasion."

 File Photo by Yuri Kochetkov/EPA-EFE

March 4 (UPI) -- Russian lawmakers passed a bill on Friday that targets journalists and criminalizes any reports that the government considers to be false news about the fighting in Ukraine.

The bill passed by lawmakers in the Duma, the lower house of parliament, says that reporters can face as many as 10 years in prison for giving out false information -- and 15 years if the offense has "grave consequences."

The proposal would prohibit describing the Russian campaign as an "invasion" or "war," and encourages reporters to call it "a special military operation."

Damage is seen to a building in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on February 28 after it was hit by Russian artillery. Photo by Ukraine State Emergency Press Service via EPA-EFE

The bill says part of the reason for the proposal is that Ukrainian media are using footage from fighting in the Donbas region several years ago and presenting it as evidence of war crimes against Russia for its current military campaign.

Lawmakers say the reports are creating a negative image of Russia as a "bloody aggressor" and whipping up "panic in society."

UKRAINIANS ENJOYING EVENING BONFIRE  

The Committee To Protect Journalists said in a statement on Thursday that the Russian law is an "obvious threat to free speech and the independent press."

The bill now goes to the upper house and, if passed, will be enacted by President Vladimir Putin.

Russia has been cracking down on independent media, and Russian media are being ordered to publish only information from official government sources.

KHARKIV SUNDAY MORNING AFTER STREET PARTY 

Eerie string of lights spotted in night sky over Switzerland

By Brian Lada, Accuweather.com

Starlink satellites can sometimes show up as chains of tiny streaks in the sky, as seen in this NASA photo taken from the International Space Station. Photo courtesy NASA

A star-studded night sky over Vetroz, Switzerland, was interrupted by an eerie string of lights last weekend -- but one skywatcher was outside waiting for the lights to appear.

"This is it," the man said while filming what appeared to be a row of stars gliding across the sky.

To the untrained eye, the lights could spark rumors of UFOs, but not to folks who were anticipating them. In fact, the parade of lights appeared right on schedule last Saturday.

A train of SpaceX Starlink satellites flies over the Swiss Alps on February 26. Image by Newsflare

The lights were not from a UFO but dozens of new SpaceX Starlink satellites that were launched from Vandenberg Space Force Base in Southern California a week ago.

The formations are known as satellite trains, as the objects follow each other in quick succession. In cases like the one in Switzerland, the train can be tightly packed, but in other cases they can be spread farther apart.

The Starlink satellites are not emitting light, but rather are reflecting light from the sun. This is most pronounced in the hours just after nightfall or just before daybreak.

SpaceX has launched over 2,000 Starlink satellites over the past few years and plans to launch thousands more. The most recent launch occurred on Thursday. The private space company made news last month after 40 of the satellites were knocked out by a solar storm.

Thousands of satellites are required for SpaceX to achieve its goal of providing high-speed Internet access around the world. It could be a game-changer for remote areas where Internet access is extremely limited or unavailable.

However, the fleet of Internet-providing satellites does not come without a catch.

Thousands of satellites constantly orbiting the Earth can interfere with astronomers taking observations of the night sky, as well as contribute to the growing issue of satellites and debris in low-Earth orbit.

SpaceX has worked to make the satellites less reflective, but when the conditions are right like they were over Switzerland, the satellites can easily be seen with the naked eye.

"Wasn't sure whether that one would be visible but it is," the man said about the train of satellites while recording the video.

The satellites tend to appear the brightest in the sky in the days immediately following launch before becoming "invisible to the naked eye within a week of launch," according to SpaceX.

SpaceX is planning at least two more Starlink launches in March and more will follow throughout 2022.

For a chance to see a train of Starlink satellites like the video from Switzerland, observers will need cloud-free weather to keep an eye on the sky during the nights following launch.