Volcanic eruption sparked a week long thunderstorm, and scientists want to know why


Maya Wei-Haas 

In December 2018, after months of sputtering, the Anak Krakatau volcano in Indonesia collapsed. Its southwestern flank slid into the sea, shoving a wall of water into the neighboring islands of Sumatra and Java. The catastrophic event and resulting tsunami killed more than 430 people and injured thousands more.

The collapse was only the start of Anak Krakatau’s fiery fit. The volcano continued to billow a gaseous plume miles into the sky, feeding a rare six-day thunderstorm that sparkled with lightning. The event offered scientists an incredibly detailed look at how some eruptions can affect local weather in remarkable ways. As described in a new study in Scientific Reports, this intense volcanic storm was supercharged by vaporized seawater that chilled to ice in the rising plume, unleashing more than 100,000 flashes of lightning.


“It blew me away how much lightning was there,” says Andrew Prata, a post-doctoral researcher at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center and lead author of the study. At its peak, the volcanic lightning storm crackled with 72 flashes a minute.

Volcanologists are starting to unravel how these flashy shows could be used to track the ever-shifting dangers of volcanic eruptions, yet the specific processes that drive the lightning are just coming into focus. Another volcano, Bogoslof in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, began a series of eruptive events in December 2016 that continued for nearly nine months, resulting in thousands of lightning strikes that scientists are also using to piece together the inner workings of volcanic storms.

The latest studies of Anak Krakatau and Bogoslof emphasize the watery mechanisms that drive the varied personalities of volcanic eruptions.

“We have to think broadly about the full range of eruption styles ... to use lightning in a meaningful way,” says Alexa Van Eaton, a volcanologist with the U.S. Geological Survey's Cascades Volcano Observatory and lead author of the study on Bogoslof in Bulletin of Volcanology.



smoke coming out of the water: Billowing clouds of vaporized water shroud Anak Krakatau at the start of the lengthy volcanic thunderstorm in December 2018.
2 SLIDES © Photograph by Antara Foto/Bisnis Indonesia/Nurul Hidayat via Reuters

Billowing clouds of vaporized water shroud Anak Krakatau at the start of the lengthy volcanic thunderstorm in December 2018.






1-4/19 SLIDES © Photograph by Randy Olson, Nat Geo Image Collection
GRASSLAND BIRDS OF THE GREAT PLAINS WADE BY THE WATER'S EDGE AS A STORM BEGINS TO TAKE SHAPE IN THE BACKGROUND.

The science behind the flash

Whether sparked by a springtime shower or an eruption of volcanic fury, all lightning requires what’s known as a charge separation, which develops as positively and negatively charged particles accumulate in different parts of a cloud. As the opposing charges build up, they generate an imbalance that nature resolves by releasing a bolt of electricity—lightning.

In an atmospheric thunderstorm, the charges form in a chaotic swirl of ice, slush, and liquid water. Collisions between these phases of water can shear electrons from the particles, leaving some positively charged and others negatively charged.

In volcanic eruptions, on the other hand, ash particles play a critical role. These tiny fragments form as the rapid expansion of gases in magma shatter the molten rock into glassy shards, which gain a charge in the process. The ashier the plume, the higher the chance these particles collide and fracture within the billowing clouds, producing even more charge that might spark lightning.

Researchers have long suspected that ice also plays an important role in driving volcanic light shows. Eruption plumes, even from volcanoes not surrounded by the ocean, are laden with water that was previously entrained in the magma. When these plumes rise high enough in the atmosphere for ice to form, the lightning rates and intensity often skyrocket, explains Stephen McNutt, an expert in volcanic lightning at the University of South Florida who was not involved in the new work.

“It’s a really intriguing grey area of how volcanic lightning comes about,” Van Eaton says.
Anak Krakatau’s icy tower

Indonesia’s Anak Krakatau first peeked its head above the ocean waves in 1929, nearly half a century after its parent volcano Krakatau blew a massive crater in the seafloor in one of the largest eruptions in recorded history. Over the decades, Anak Krakatau has continued to reach higher into the sky, but two years ago, its ascent halted when one of its sloping sides crumpled back into the sea.

Seawater flooded the system and vaporized into towering volcanic clouds that stretched as high as 11 miles, according to satellite analyses. At the lower levels, ash was likely abundant, evidenced by a hefty sprinkle of glassy shards on nearby shores. But the ash didn’t seem to reach up to the cloud tops, leaving white puffs like a run-of-the-mill thunderstorm.

Infrared data and modeling suggest that the volcanic clouds were remarkably rich with ice, containing a mass of frozen water equivalent to 600,000 Asian elephants—five times the amount of ice found in non-volcanic clouds nearby. This wasn’t the most ice-rich eruption volcanologists have seen, but the storm lasted nearly a week thanks to a steady supply of seawater. The rates of lightning were also startlingly high, with an average of 8.7 flashes each minute.

In satellite imagery of the event, puffy clouds and tropical thunderstorms faded in and out of view over the Indian and Pacific Oceans, but the storm over Anak Krakatau remained steadfastly in place—“right where the action is happening,” Prata says.

“It’s a fantastically massive thunderstorm,” says the University of Bristol’s Karen Aplin, who specializes in atmospheric electricity and was not part of the new research.
Lightning switch

Hints of ice supercharging volcanic storms date back to the mid-1960s, when daring scientists risked their lives to study the eruptions of the Surtsey volcano off the coast of Iceland, Van Eaton says. The researchers took boats perilously close to the rumbling shores of the volcanic island and flew planes through the hazardous plumes to document Surtsey’s blasts.

While much of the lightning they observed was tied to black jets of volcanic ash, the researchers spotted one period of intense electricity flashing in the sky. They suggested it could have been driven by a process similar to a meteorologic thunderstorm, which would mean it was driven by ice.

Decades of research since, however, have shown just how complex these icy processes can be in volcanic lightning. The patterns of lightning at one eruption don’t necessarily translate to another. For example, lightning only flashed for half of the explosions during the 2016 and 2017 eruption at Alaska’s Bogoslof volcano.

Later analysis revealed that only the plumes rising above the altitude where ice forms produced strong lightning. This dramatic change surprised Van Eaton, who "previously thought about the role of ice as sort of an extra boost for lightning," she says. Instead, the presence or absence of ice was like a switch at Bogoslof, clicking the tendrils of light on and off.

The pair of analyses of Bogoslof and Anak Krakatau provide a detailed peek at the complex array of factors that must unite to stir a spark. As current methods improve, researchers will likely continue to tease out more details of volcanic lightning mechanics.

Van Eaton vividly recalls videos of the death-defying work at Surtsey in the 1960s: “We’re just now circling back with more modern tools and techniques to sort of show that, yeah, they got it right.”

Hackers are sending malicious software in emails disguised as information about the coronavirus in order to gain access to people's computers
Stacy Liberatore For Dailymail.com

© Provided by Daily Mail Security experts have discovered cybercriminals are sending emails with a malicious strain of software disguised as information about the outbreak. The emails, discovered in Japan, claim the virus has spread like wildfire throughout the…

The coronavirus is sending the world into a panic and hackers are using it as bait to steal people's personal data.

Security experts have discovered cybercriminals are sending emails with a malicious strain of software disguised as information about the outbreak.

The emails, discovered in Japan, claim the virus has spread like wildfire throughout the country and prompt recipients to open an attachment to 'learn more'.

This attachment gives hackers access to the victim's computer, allowing them to harvest personal data and infect their computers with a virus.

The coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak. It has been named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. The name stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2.

Experts say the bug, which has killed around one in 50 patients since the outbreak began in December, is a 'sister' of the SARS illness which hit China in 2002, so has been named after it.

The disease that the virus causes has been named COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019.

And now hackers are taking advantage of people's fears.

© Provided by Daily Mail Security Experts with IBM X-Force and Kasperky uncovered the malicious emails, which they found 'are composed of different representations of the current date and the Japanese word for 'notification', in order to suggest urgency,' IBM X-Force shares in a blog post

Security Experts with IBM X-Force and Kasperky uncovered the malicious emails, which they found 'are composed of different representations of the current date and the Japanese word for 'notification', in order to suggest urgency,' IBM X-Force shares in a blog post.

The emails appear to be sent by a disability welfare service provider in Japan, which warn recipients the outbreak has spread to certain parts of the country and urges the reader to open the attach document to learn more about the outbreak.

To make the emails seem authentic, hackers have added a footer at the bottom, complete with a postal address as well as a phone and fax number.

Kaspersky analyst Anton Ivanov said: 'The coronavirus, which is currently hotly debated in the media, has been used as a bait by cybercriminals'

'So far, we've only identified ten unique files, but since this type of activity is common to popular media topics, we expect this number to increase.

© Provided by Daily Mail The emails appear to be sent by a disability welfare service provider in Japan, which warn recipients the outbreak has spread to certain parts of the country and urges the reader to open the attach document to learn more about the outbreak

© Provided by Daily Mail To make the emails seem authentic, hackers have added a footer at the bottom, complete with a postal address as well as a phone and fax number.

'As people continue to worry about their health, fake documents that are said to educate them about the coronavirus may be spreading more and more malware.'

The first human cases were publicly reported from the Chinese city of Wuhan, where approximately 11 million people live, after medics first started publicly reporting infections on December 31.

By January 8, 59 suspected cases had been reported and seven people were in critical condition. Tests were developed for the new virus and recorded cases started to surge.

The first person died that week and, by January 16, two were dead and 41 cases were confirmed. The next day, scientists predicted that 1,700 people had become infected, possibly up to 7,000.

Just a week after that, there had been more than 800 confirmed cases and those same scientists estimated that some 4,000 – possibly 9,700 – were infected in Wuhan alone. By that point, 26 people had died.

By January 27, more than 2,800 people were confirmed to have been infected, 81 had died and an estimated total number of cases ranged from 100,000 to 350,000 in Wuhan alone.

By January 29, the number of deaths had risen to 132 and cases were in excess of 6,000.

By February 5, there were more than 24,000 cases and 492 deaths.

By February 11, this had risen to more than 43,000 cases and 1,000 deaths.

A change in the way cases are confirmed on February 13 – doctors decided to start using lung scans as a formal diagnosis, as well as laboratory tests – caused a spike in the number of cases, to more than 60,000 and to 1,369 deaths.

By February 25, around 80,000 people had been infected and some 2,700 had died.

February 25 was the first day in the outbreak when fewer cases were diagnosed within China than in the rest of the world.

WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS SO FAR


Someone who is infected with the coronavirus can spread it with just a simple cough or a sneeze, scientists say.

Nearly 3,000 people with the virus are now confirmed to have died and more than 83,000 have been infected. Here's what we know so far:

What is the coronavirus?

A coronavirus is a type of virus which can cause illness in animals and people. Viruses break into cells inside their host and use them to reproduce itself and disrupt the body's normal functions. Coronaviruses are named after the Latin word 'corona', which means crown, because they are encased by a spiked shell which resembles a royal crown.

The coronavirus from Wuhan is one which has never been seen before this outbreak. It has been named SARS-CoV-2 by the International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses. The name stands for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus 2.

Experts say the bug, which has killed around one in 50 patients since the outbreak began in December, is a 'sister' of the SARS illness which hit China in 2002, so has been named after it.

The disease that the virus causes has been named COVID-19, which stands for coronavirus disease 2019.

Dr Helena Maier, from the Pirbright Institute, said: 'Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that infect a wide range of different species including humans, cattle, pigs, chickens, dogs, cats and wild animals.

'Until this new coronavirus was identified, there were only six different coronaviruses known to infect humans. Four of these cause a mild common cold-type illness, but since 2002 there has been the emergence of two new coronaviruses that can infect humans and result in more severe disease (Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) coronaviruses).

'Coronaviruses are known to be able to occasionally jump from one species to another and that is what happened in the case of SARS, MERS and the new coronavirus. The animal origin of the new coronavirus is not yet known

THE RIGHT WING SOLUTION TO EVERY PROBLEM
Trump officials discuss tax cuts, other emergency measures in hopes of tackling coronavirus fallout

WHEN IN DOUBT ABOUT WHAT TO DO CUT TAXES

New emails released from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) show how much concern there was within the agency, and how much questioning and anger from the outside, regarding the credibility of its critical-to-life hurricane forecasts as a result of actions taken during Hurricane Dorian last fall.

© Tom Brenner/Bloomberg President Trump displays a hurricane path projection map while delivering updates to the press regarding Hurricane Dorian during a news conference inside the Oval Office, on Sept. 4, 2019, at the White House in Washington. (Tom Brenner/ Bloomberg)

The emails, released as part of a Freedom of Information Act request from The Washington Post and other media outlets, demonstrate the tenuous state of scientific credibility in the Trump era, even at a federal agency with decades of service — NOAA dates to 1970, while its National Weather Service has its roots in the 19th century.

et all it took was a six-day period featuring a few tweets from President Trump and a Sharpie-modified hurricane forecast map in the Oval Office followed by a politically motivated statement about the storm’s path to cause some citizens to regard the agency’s work as tainted by political interference.

Subscribe to the Post Most newsletter: Today’s most popular stories on The Washington Post

The insight that credibility can be swiftly damaged when dealing with the collision between science and politics is particularly relevant today, as agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health face the outbreak of the new coronavirus.

As was reported Thursday, government health experts have been directed to clear any public comments first through Vice President Pence’s office, which is a highly unusual directive during a disease outbreak and has raised concerns about political interference in public health communication.

In past disease outbreaks, such as the Ebola outbreak in West Africa and SARS, the CDC and experts from other federal science agencies dealt directly with the media.

A stormy six days

Many of the emails concern Trump’s inaccurate assertion in a tweet from Sept. 1, 2019, in which the president claimed that Alabama “will most likely be hit (much) harder than anticipated” by the Category 5 storm. They also concern a controversial unsigned statement that a NOAA representative issued on Sept. 6. That statement criticized the National Weather Service forecast office in Birmingham for a tweet that contradicted Trump’s claims.

The statement was widely interpreted within NOAA’s National Weather Service as contradicting an accurate forecast because of political pressure from the White House and the Commerce Department. The Post has reported that the demand for NOAA to issue the statement came from White House acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, at the request of the president, via officials at the Commerce Department.

The new emails released Friday include messages sent from members of the public to Ken Graham, the director of the National Hurricane Center, and other officials, expressing frustration with NOAA’s Sept. 6 statement and a newfound distrust of its forecasts.

In one email to Graham, a member of the public wrote of concerns about NOAA’s forecast accuracy.

“I live on the east coast of Florida,” the person wrote. "For all of my adult life I have relied on upon the scientific honesty and ethics of NOAA in general, and the National Hurricane Center specifically, to provide accurate storm information.”

“I was heartsick and dumbstruck to see the NOAA announcement today supporting the president’s ludicrous and psychotic defense of his Alabama forecast garbage. Mr. Graham, as a fellow scientist and professional, would you kindly reassure me that the politics of a lunatic will not be affecting the science done at NOAA and the NHC?”

© Ramon Espinosa/AP Volunteers wade through a flooded road against wind and rain brought on by Hurricane Dorian to rescue families near the Causarina bridge in Freeport, Grand Bahama, Bahamas, on Sept. 3, 2019. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)

Similarly, a resident of Biloxi, Miss., wrote to Graham on Sept. 7, a day after the unsigned statement was released, saying the episode threatened to “irreparably” damage the NHC’s “previously sterling, trustworthy reputation for scientific reliability, accuracy and truthful public service.”

“Please do not let Washington’s epidemic of dystopian politics contaminate your previously respected agencies,” the Biloxi resident wrote.

An email from NOAA employee Gregory Hammer, who was tracking the volume of tweets on the matter received by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, said more than 600 emails had been received.

“Most are asking, in some form, ‘How can we trust NOAA?’ or stating that ‘NOAA has lost its credibility,’” Hammer wrote.

In response to the torrent of criticism, the Hurricane Center’s Graham pleaded with National Weather Service leadership in an email to help him craft an official response.

“The biggest request we are getting are emails just asking for assurance we are science based as always,” Graham wrote to Mary Erickson, the Weather Service’s deputy director. "Not looking for anything other than [to provide] assurance ‘we have not changed.’”

The emails released also reveal the sentiment within NOAA to rally around those who were sticking up for the agency’s scientific integrity. After acting chief scientist Craig McLean sent an email within the agency announcing an investigation into the Sept. 6 statement, numerous NOAA staffers wrote to thank him.

“Our integrity as a science agency is priceless, and so that unsigned press release from “NOAA” hurts all of us -- so when the next storm comes by (and it will), will we be believed?” wrote Howard Diamond, a climate science program manager at NOAA, in a message to McLean.

The new emails also reveal that Stephen Volz, NOAA’s assistant administrator for satellite and information services, wrote to his division’s public affairs team with one directive on Sept. 9: “To you both, I can imagine this past week has been hell. I can guess what sort of “guidance you hve[sic.] been getting from NOAA Comms.,” Volz said, referring to NOAA’s communications department in Washington.

“To which my only guidance, potentially contrary, is to tell the truth. I know you know what that is, and I support you in doing so.”

How long can coronavirus survive on surfaces?

Feb 28 (Reuters) - As a new coronavirus spreads quickly around the world, U.S. health officials say they are "aggressively" assessing how long it can survive on surfaces to better understand the risk of transmission.

© Getty Cleaning lady with a bucket and cleaning products on blurred background .

Based on what is known about similar coronaviruses, disease experts say the new outbreak of the virus, named COVID-19, is mainly spread from person to person through coughing or sneezing. Contact with fecal matter from an infected person may also transmit the virus.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it may be possible for a person to become infected by touching a surface or object that has the virus on it and then touching their own mouth, nose or eyes.

An analysis of 22 earlier studies of similar coronaviruses, including Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) published online this month in the Journal of Hospital Infection, concluded that human coronaviruses can remain infectious on inanimate surfaces for up to nine days at room temperature. However, they can quickly be rendered inactive using common disinfectants, and may also dissipate at higher temperatures, the authors wrote. It is not yet clear, however, whether the new coronavirus behaves in a similar way.

"On copper and steel it’s pretty typical, it’s pretty much about two hours," CDC Director Dr. Robert Redfield told U.S. lawmakers on Thursday, referring to how long the new coronavirus may be active on those types of materials. "But I will say on other surfaces - cardboard or plastic - it’s longer, and so we are looking at this.”

The agency said there is likely a very low risk of spread from products or packaging that are shipped over a period of days or weeks at ambient temperatures.

A CDC spokeswoman, in an emailed statement, said the agency is still looking into how contagious the virus can be when deposited on more common, everyday surfaces.

The Food and Drug Administration this week said it has no evidence that COVID-19 has been transmitted from imported goods, but the situation remains "dynamic" and the agency said it will assess and update guidance as needed.

"The important big take-home message is that this is probably a small proportion of the transmission of respiratory viruses," said Dr. Timothy Brewer, professor of epidemiology and medicine at the University of California, Los Angeles. "Out in the community, these viruses are probably not surviving for a long time on surfaces."

Brewer explained that such viruses tend to survive the longest in low-temperature, low-humidity environments, "that is why you see lots of respiratory viruses during the winter."

AP-NORC poll: Impeachment didn't dent Trump approval

WASHINGTON — Do Americans trust anyone or anything in public life these days?
© Provided by Associated Press In this Feb. 26, 2020 photo, President Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the Brady press briefing room of the White House in Washington.

Even after impeachment, ahead of the elections and amid the coronavirus, some do, according to a new survey. President Donald Trump appears unharmed by his impeachment and subsequent Senate acquittal — in fact he received some of the highest marks of his presidency in the new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research, though ratings remain more negative than positive. People don't even despise Congress quite as deeply as they once did, though a large majority still disapprove.

And a slim majority have great confidence in people running the U.S. military.

So when it comes to public trust of the institutions that hold society together, it could be worse — and has been. Still, few Americans have high trust in many of the pillars of the U.S. establishment, giving middling to low ratings to leaders in government, elections, religion, financial institutions and yes, the media.

“When you’re younger, you assume that they’re all going to run things with a certain amount of responsibility,” said Seth Mathews, 29, a sailboat deckhand and educator from Three Rivers, Michigan. He recalls watching a House session with some friends just after graduating college.

“It was bickering old guys, and (I) was like, ‘How do they run a country like this?’" he said. "It was disappointing.”

All is not lost when it comes to public trust, the poll found.

A slim majority — 54% — said they have a great deal of confidence in the military, and another 38% said they have some confidence. But even on this, there were deep political and generational divides. About 7 in 10 Republicans and adults 60 and older said they have high confidence, compared to about 4 in 10 Democrats and those younger than 30.

The poll also found that Trump's impeachment — and his Feb. 5 Senate acquittal — did not dent his approval ratings. The survey showed that 43% of Americans approve of how he is handling his job as president, with 56% disapproving. Although still in negative territory, that's among the best tallies for Trump in AP-NORC polls conducted over the course of his presidency.

Trump's approval has stayed within a narrow, roughly 10-point band in most polls. That's far less variation than existed for previous presidents since the 1940s, according to polling by Gallup.

Some of the government agencies Trump has denigrated or questioned get at least some support from Americans. About 8 in 10 viewed the government's intelligence agencies with at least some confidence, including 29% who say they have high confidence. Feelings are similar about the FBI.

As for Congress, with the House controlled by Democrats and the Senate by Republicans, just 20% of Americans approve of the job it's doing. That's down slightly from 27% in October. But it's still somewhat better than it was at this point in 2018, when just 14% said they approved.

Its leaders are viewed more negatively than positively by Americans, the poll found. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who led the proceedings that made Trump only the third impeached president in history, is viewed positively by 37% and negatively by 45%. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who led his acquittal Feb. 5 but is less well-known than Pelosi, is viewed well by 21% of Americans and poorly by 39%. About 4 in 10 said they don't know him well enough to say.

Just about 1 in 10 said they had a great deal of confidence in Congress in general, with roughly another half saying they had some confidence.

The Supreme Court did comparatively well than other branches of government: 28% of Americans said they have high confidence in the high court, while another 58% have some.

As for the media: Just 14% have high confidence in the press. But that's an improvement from four years ago. In 2016, just 6% said the same. Now, another 43% say they have some confidence and 44% hardly any.

In perhaps the poll's least-surprising finding: Opinions of the press varied widely by party. A quarter of Democrats have high confidence in the press, compared with 4% of Republicans.

Seven in 10 Republicans but just about 2 in 10 Democrats say they have hardly any confidence in the press, the poll found.

___

The AP-NORC poll of 1,074 adults was conducted Feb. 13-16 using a sample drawn from NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak panel, which is designed to be representative of the U.S. population. The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.2 percentage points. Respondents were first selected randomly using address-based sampling methods and later were interviewed online or by phone.

FCC: Cellphone carriers could face $200M in fines for selling data

FOR SALE YOU AND I

Four major cellphone carriers could face fines over $200 million for selling customer location data, FCC Chairman Ajit Rai said Friday. File Photo by Pixabay/niekverlaan

Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Fines against four major cellphone carriers could top $200 million, Federal Communication Commission Chairman Ajit Pai suggested Friday.

The FCC said a lengthy investigation concluded that T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon improperly sold access to their customers' real-time location information. It alleges that the companies violated the law by failing to protect the geolocation information of hundreds of millions of customers.

"The FCC has long had clear rules on the books requiring all phone companies to protect their customers' personal information," Pai said. "And since these companies have been on notice that they must take reasonable precautions to safeguard this data and that the FCC will take strong enforcement action if they don't. Today, we do just that," Pai said.

The penalties will potentially be among the largest the agency has ever imposed, and the first time it has taken action on the matter. Details of customers' locations are a factor in an ongoing debate over privacy issues. Information on personal relationships, and even doctor visits, can be revealed, for example. While app makers routinely obtain and sell customer data, the telecommunications sector is confined by more stringent customer confidentiality laws.

RELATED Judge approves T-Mobile's $26 billion merger with Sprint

"It puts the safety and privacy of every American with a wireless phone at risk," FCC Commisioner Jessica Rosenworcel, said in a statement last month about the agency's investigation.

In January, a letter from Pai to Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., confirmed that the investigation had concluded and that "one or more wireless carriers apparently violated federal law."

The letter did not mention if a financial penalty would be assessed. The companies involved will be allowed to argue against the f

Southwest Valley Constructors receives $175.4M for border wall in Texas

Construction crews work to erect levee wall system in a remote area south of Weslaco, Texas in the U.S. Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley Sector. Jan. 13, 2019. This week Southwest Valley Constructors was awarded a a $175.4 million contract to construct sections of the border wall in the Rio Grande Valley. Photo by Glenn Fawcett/CBP

Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Southwest Valley Constructors was awarded a $175.4 million contract for border wall construction in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, the Pentagon announced Friday.

Work on this contract will be performed in Rio Grande City, with an estimated completion date of Oct. 4, 2021, according to the Department of Defense.

The project is funded with Fiscal 2018 and 2019 appropriation funds, with the full amount of the award being obligated immediately.

In May 2019 the Pentagon awarded Southwest Valley Constructors with a $646 million million contract for design and build of the border wall at Tucson, Ariz., after being selected to compete for each order of a $5 billion bid earlier that month.

According to the Arizona Daily Star, Albuquerque, N.M.-based contractor was formed in Delaware in March 2017, according to state records, with listed agents who are officers with Kiewit, an Omaha construction firm founded in the 1880s that had $9 billion in revenue in 2018.

Kiewit has also received border construction contracts -- a total of $1.8 billion by December 2019.

At a House Armed Services Committee hearing Wednesday lawmakers criticized the Pentagon for a reprogramming request that would divert $3.8 billion in defense funding to build sections of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border.

Mallinckrodt reaches $1.6B deal to settle thousands of opioid lawsuits

Feb. 25 (UPI) -- Generic drug manufacturer Mallinckrodt announced a tentative $1.6 billion agreement Tuesday to settle thousands of claims brought against it in a sprawling lawsuit seeking financial compensation from pharmaceutical companies over their role in the ongoing opioid crisis.

Mallinckrodt, the United States' largest generic opioid manufacturer, said in a statement that the money will be paid into a trust over eight years and will cover the costs of opioid-addiction treatments and related efforts.

"In terms of next steps, the company is engaging with plaintiffs to finalize the details and satisfy the terms of the agreement in principle," the company's statement read. "Mallinckrodt intends to work through this process as quickly and efficiently as possible."

The company said its generic drug manufacture subsidiary will file for bankruptcy and once it emerges from the Chapter 11 process, the agreement, if finalized, will go into effect.

RELATED Dental patients in the ER get too many antibiotics, opioids, study says

The agreement, it added, was reached by a court-appointed executive committee representing the thousands of communities that have sued pharmaceutical firms over the country's ongoing opioid crisis.

It said the agreement was supported by 47 state and U.S. territory attorneys general.

The settlement comes as part of the National Presumption Opiate Litigation lawsuit out of Ohio against manufacturers of opioids, alleging they "grossly misrepresented the risks of long-term use" of their drugs by people with chronic pain, fueling the public health situation.

RELATED Study: Alcohol-linked deaths soar in U.S., hit women hardest

"Reaching this agreement in principle for a global opioid resolution and the associated debt refinancing activities announced today are important steps toward resolving the uncertainties in our business related to the opioid litigation," Mallinckrodt President and CEO Mark Trudeau said in a statement. "Importantly, when finalized, we believe the proposed settlement and capital restructuring activities will provide us with a clear path forward to achieving our long-term strategy, preserving value for our financial stakeholders and providing us with the flexibility to operate effectively."

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra said Mallinckrodt has also agreed to tightened restrictions on its future opioid business that will bar it from marketing its opioids and control its distribution so the pain medicine won't end up in the wrong hands.

"Nothing can undo the devastating loss and grief inflicted by the opioid epidemic upon victims and their families, but this settlement with Mallinckrodt is an important step in the process of healing our communities," Becerra said in a statement. "Our office has worked aggressively with our coalition partners to hold accountable bad actors who fueled this public health crisis. While today's settlement is a step in the right direction, we'll continue to work to bring more much-needed relief to families throughout California whose lives have been upended by the opioid crisis."

RELATED 1 in 4 opioid overdoses involves children, teenagers


According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2017, more than 70,000 people died in the United States from drug overdose with 68 percent of those deaths related to prescription or illicit opioids.

Mallinckrodt's global settlement in the Ohio lawsuit follows agreements in separate cases last year by OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma, Teva Pharmaceutical and Johnson & Johnson.

Marijuana, hemp businesses bolster commercial real estate


Dispensaries and other marijuana and hemp businesses are having an effect on local real estate in states where the pot is legal. File Photo by Iriana Shiyan/Shutterstock

DENVER, Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Commercial real estate markets across the United States are feeling a positive influence from the cannabis industry as property is bought, sold and leased for medical and recreational marijuana, a new report shows.

Hemp also is making waves in agricultural land sales and industrial real estate, agents say.

There were desert cities no one cared about until cannabis came along, said Ryan George, founder of cannabis real estate listing site 420property.com. "In Palm Springs, Adelanto, Cathedral City, [Calif.,] I personally know people who bought warehouses for $50 a square foot and sold them for $500 a square foot."

Marijuana is illegal at the federal level, which interferes with some aspects of buying, renting and selling real estate. But 23 states have legalized medical pot, and 11 of them, plus Washington, D.C., also allow recreational cannabis sales.

RELATED Products made from hemp-based plastics enter consumer market

Mature markets in states like Oregon, Washington and Colorado appear to have gotten a commercial real estate boost from marijuana, according to a National Association of Realtors report issued this month based on a 2019 survey of commercial brokers.

In states where all forms of marijuana have been legal for more than three years, 42 percent of survey respondents reported an increased demand for commercial warehouse space, and between 20 and 30 percent said they saw an increase in sales of retail properties and land.

But cannabis properties can come with regulatory hassles, said Vince Sliwoski, a Portland, Ore., real estate attorney. Recreational cannabis was approved in Oregon in 2015.

RELATED Colorado university to offer cannabis science degrees

"Title insurance is a huge headache," Sliwoski said. "Buyers often have to use a third-party escrow instead of banks."

Landlords with mortgages run a risk of banks calling in their loans if they are renting to a retail or industrial cannabis tenant.

Hemp doesn't have these issues, Sliwoski said, because marijuana's non-psychoactive cannabis cousin no longer is federally illegal.

RELATED Recreational marijuana now legal in Illinois

A south Oregon sawmill has been repurposed as a hemp extractor facility, and that shows how the region's economy is changing, he said.

"In southern Oregon, the biggest driver of the economy used to be timber, but now hemp is the new big agricultural commodity that people are banking on."

Denver-based Foster, of VIP Commercial real estate, remembers when Colorado legalized medicinal pot in 2008, "just as the entire economy was falling apart."

Many blamed the marijuana industry for higher rents, he said, but cannabis money for warehouses, dispensaries and doctor's offices was welcome. Colorado legalized recreational pot in 2014.

As the industry has matured, landlords are recognizing some pitfalls unique to renting to cannabis businesses.

Respondents from mature cannabis markets in the Realtor association study said the smell was the largest concern for property owners renting to cannabis-related businesses. Other concerns were moisture and mold and theft and fire.

"There are complaints that large warehouses that grow produce a smell that kind of takes over the neighborhood," Foster said. "You smell it on the highway, and it's like 'Welcome to Denver.'"

But even if marijuana initially helped hold up the prices of Colorado warehouse space, it's now too expensive to grow cannabis indoors, Foster said. Growers are turning to greenhouse properties in southern Colorado -- in the poorest areas of the state -- where land is cheaper.

Hemp cannabidiol extractors are moving into prime warehouse space with complicated build-outs including "explosion-proof rooms and air-release vents 150 feet high," Foster said.

"It's like a second gold rush," Denver commercial real estate agent Pete Foster said. "First it was cannabis in 2008 through 2012, and now it's the hemp."

In California, cannabis-friendly municipal ordinances and low tax rates caused a land rush between 2017 and 2018 in the Palm Desert area where the Coachella music festival is hosted, George said. But some investors were burned when they realized the high cost of retrofitting warehouse space to grow cannabis.

Some towns didn't have the electrical capacity to upgrade electricity in warehouses to grow, he said, adding, "Some people lost millions."

The ride has not been as wild in states where medical marijuana has been legalized.

"You need to get it approved by the county and then sometimes by the municipality, too," Miami-based Realtor April Rodriguez said.

Getting into the medical marijuana business is a billionaire's game, she said, with strictly limited state licenses going for $40 million "for the piece of paper -- that's before they even buy the land."

Rodriguez said some landlords want nothing to do with a medical marijuana dispensary, but sometimes change their minds after town hall meetings.

"Most of it is landlord education. They don't know what it is and wonder, are they going to get in trouble?" she said.

For states with no legal cannabis, but growing hemp industries, real estate is trickier, said Harold Jarboe of Tennessee Homegrown hemp in Readyville.

Jarboe, a hemp consultant, and others in former tobacco country, are operating on slim margins after a glut of 2019 supply and a steep drop in prices.

GenCanna, Tennessee's biggest hemp processor, filed for bankruptcy protection, and several others have shut their doors or lost financing, he said.

Jarboe said real estate agents are trying to find an entrance into the agricultural farm market.

"In agricultural areas where farming has been stressed, there's all sorts of warehouses and barns that need no refurbishing for hemp. But this next year, it will be extremely hard, because where will the margin be for the person doing the real estate?"

United Nations: More than 948K displaced in Syria in last 12 weeks

Civilians walk amid debris of a Russian military fighter jet in the eastern Idlib countryside in Syria on February 3, 2018. File Photo by Abdalla Saad/EPA-EFE

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The United Nations said Wednesday the Syrian military offensive against rebel forces in the northwest portion of the country, including Idlib, has displaced nearly 1 million civilians in the last three months.

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said a total of 948,000 have been displaced since Dec. 1, including almost 180,000 families and 560,000 children. A surge in recent fighting has led 14 European foreign ministers to call on the regimes in Syria and Russia to stop the hostilities.

The OCHA said in a report last week the humanitarian crisis has reached "horrifying levels" and exceeds "worst-case planning figures."

"Indiscriminate attacks in civilian areas continue to drive people from their homes and destroy vital services, including hospitals, markets, and schools," the report said. "Cold weather has made the situation worse.

"The frontlines in northwest Syria are rapidly moving closer to densely populated areas, with bombardments increasingly affecting [Internally Displaced Persons] sites and their vicinity."

The humanitarian organization Syria Civil Defense, also known as the White Helmets, has documented many of the dead and displaced, saying Wednesday it rescued 95 people, including 21 children, during a recent shelling that killed more than two dozen people and forced civilians from their schools and homes.

Russian Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin accused the White Helmets Wednesday of helping Western intelligence circulate lies and wage a media war against Syria.

"Two years ago, information spread around the world which claimed the responsibility of the Syrian Arab Army for the use of chemical weapons in Douma City and that was a pre-planned misleading by this organization and it was backed by Western states," Naryshkin said.

"After that, we were able in cooperation with Syrian journalists through their investigations to prove that these allegations and hypotheses regarding the use of chemical weapons are a complete fabrication by the [White Helmets] which is backed by the West."

Starbucks to offer plant-based sandwich in Canada stores

WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE IN ALBERTA 

WE'RE BEEF AND PORK COUNTRY AS WELL AS OIL

The breakfast sandwich will be available in Canadian Starbucks stores on March 3. File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Starbucks announced Wednesday it will introduce a Beyond Meat sandwich to its menu at locations in Canada, following a growing trend of North American restaurant chains that are now offering plant-based meat substitutes.

The company said it will add a new "meat," egg and cheese breakfast sandwich in Canadian stores starting March 3. Beyond Meat is one of the largest food companies that produce plant-based protein alternatives.

Starbucks said it has worked with the California-based Beyond Meat on the custom recipe, which features a plant-based patty topped with cheddar and egg.

"Starbucks is constantly innovating its menu to reflect a range of food and beverages from wholesome to indulgent, which allows customers to make nutritional and dietary choices that are right for them," the company said in a statement.

RELATED Burger King ad shows moldy burger to unveil additive-free Whopper

Beyond Meat is competing with rival Impossible Foods for clients in the restaurant industry as it responds to rising customer demand for meatless alternatives.

Burger King, for instance, now offers an Impossible Whopper -- a plant-based version of its signature sandwich -- and McDonald's tested a Beyond Meat plant, lettuce and tomato (PLT) sandwich in Canada late last year. Since it debuted on Wall Street last May, Beyond Meat has also landed partnerships with Dunkin' Donuts, Del Taco and Subway -- and said last summer it will produce plant-based fried chicken for KFC.

Impossible Foods also has a large and growing client list, in addition to Burger King.

RELATED Pork industry joins battle to stop plant-based products from being called 'meat'

Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson said last month the coffee chain intended to add a meat alternative as part of an expanded sustainability plan that aims to cut carbon emissions in half within 10 years.

Researchers find hidden door, room in London House of Commons

The hidden doorway was filled with bricks during reconstruction work following World War II, officials said. Photo courtesy U.K. Parliament/Jessica Taylor

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- While performing heavy renovations at London's House of Commons this week, crews uncovered a long-forgotten doorway that officials say dates back to the mid-1600s -- and was probably used by some prominent British historical figures.

The House is undergoing a $5 billion restoration project and work recently found the doorway behind wooden panels. The passageway and subsequent room were originally installed for guests heading to the celebratory banquet at the 1660 coronation of Charles II, and was later used by lawmakers to access the Palace of Westminster, a medieval building where Parliament convened until the structure burned in an 1834 fire.

In a small room beyond the door, researchers found the original hinges for two wooden doors that would have opened into the old Westminster building.

The doorway was filled in with bricks during reconstruction work after the expansive legislative building was bombed in World War II.

RELATED Cracks actually protect historical paintings against environmental fluctuation

Experts say among those who likely used the doorway in the 17th century were Robert Walpole, Britain's first prime minister, statesman William Pitt the Younger and diarist Samuel Pepys.

Crews also found graffiti -- in pencil -- from 1851 when bricklayers closed part of the doorway. It read, "This room was enclosed by Tom Porter who was very fond on Ould Ale."

More graffiti read, "These masons were employed refacing these groines August 11th 1851 Real Democrats," a reference to a movement that called for all British men to have the right to vote.

RELATED Washington Monument reopens after 3-year upgrade to elevator, security

"To think that this walkway has been used by so many important people over the centuries is incredible," said House of Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle. "I am so proud of our staff for making this discovery and I really hope this space is celebrated for what it is, a part of our parliamentary history."

"We were trawling through 10,000 uncatalogued documents relating to the palace at the Historic England archives in Swindon, when we found plans for the doorway in the cloister behind Westminster Hall," said University of York historical consultant Liz Hallam Smith. "As we looked at the paneling closely, we realized there was a tiny brass keyhole that no one had really noticed before, believing it might just be an electricity cupboard. Once a key was made for it, the paneling opened up like a door into this secret entrance."

The hidden room even had working electricity, they said. After researchers opened the doors, they turned on a single, still-functioning light bulb that experts guess was probably installed during post-World War II restoration.

RELATED Florida man returns piece of Stonehenge 60 years after restoration work

Watchdog sues gov't for info about controversial Trump adviser

Adviser Stephen Miller attends a Cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump at the White House on November 19, 2019. File Photo by Oliver Contreras/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A government ethics watchdog filed a lawsuit against several federal agencies Wednesday to obtain information about the involvement of White House adviser Stephen Miller in the Trump administration's "public charge" immigration rule.

American Oversight said the suit seeks information from communications, including emails, between Miller and the Departments of Labor, Housing and Agriculture and the Centers for Medicare and Medicare Services.

The watchdog said Miller is the architect of the "public charge" rule, which allows the government to restrict immigration based on how likely it is any given migrant would apply for food stamps, Medicaid or other domestic services while living in the United States. American Oversight, and other critics of the rule, say it amounts to a "wealth test."

Miller has been an outspoken critic of unlawful immigration and in the past has been accused of having a white supremacist ideology. He is widely believed to have led President Donald Trump's tougher immigration policies. Federal lawmakers introduced legislation this month that called for Miller's condemnation.

"Stephen Miller has remained one of President Donald Trump's most influential aides," American Oversight said in a statement. "He has been the architect of the administration's Muslim-country travel ban, the defender of zero-tolerance family separation, the advocate of reducing refugee admissions and the promoter of rules that would allow the government to deny green cards to immigrants considered likely to use public assistance."

The "public charge" rule, which took effect Monday, restricts legal immigrants from receiving government assistance. After it was introduced last year, the rule was challenged in federal court until the U.S. Supreme Court voted to affirm it in a 5-4 vote Friday.

The lawsuit is part of American Oversight's overall investigation of Miller

Japan lifts last remaining ban on Fukushima fish

Fish caught off the coast of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan, are safe for consumption, Japan's nuclear authorities say. File Photo courtesy of Air Photo Service Co. Ltd. | License Photo

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Japan has lifted a ban against all Fukushima seafood shipments for the first time since the 2011 nuclear disaster, after restrictions against the last remaining species of fish, skate, were lifted on Tuesday.

Tokyo's Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters said all species of fish caught in waters off Fukushima Prefecture meet safety standards, Jiji Press and Yomiuri Shimbun reported.

There are a total of 43 species of Fukushima fish, according to authorities.

Japan placed a ban on shipments of fish with more than 100 becquerels per kilogram of radioactive cesium, which is considered unsafe for consumption, following the 2011 nuclear accident. A becquerel is a measurement of radioactive consumption

According to reports, skate was deemed safe after 1,008 skate specimens were tested for radiation. All specimens were found to be safe.

Japan's decision to lift restrictions on all Fukushima fish comes at a time when nuclear reactors damaged by the 2011 earthquake and tsunami could restart after a period of decommissioning.

Kyodo News reported Wednesday the No. 2 unit of Tohoku Electric Power Co.'s Onagawa plant in Miyagi Prefecture has been approved for operations after clearing a nuclear watchdog safety screening.

In March 2011, reactors at Onagawa were shut down in response to the earthquake. The underground floors of the No. 2 nuclear unit were flooded, according to the report.

The plant was spared thanks in part to the cooling system. At Fukushima Daiichi plant, a nuclear meltdown resulted in the daily production of nuclear wastewater.

Japan recently said it has no choice but to release tainted water from Fukushima, and plans to go forward with the discharge despite protests from neighboring South Korea.

About 170 tons of water is contaminated every day at the Fukushima plant. Tokyo has said the water is being purified, using an advanced liquid-processing system. The process does not remove tritium and leaves traces of radioactive elements.

BEYOND PETROLEUM (BP)
Deepwater Horizon oil spill was bigger than previously thought, study finds


The Deepwater Horizon disaster was the largest oil spill in U.S. history. Photo courtesy of U.S. Coast Guard

Feb. 12 (UPI) -- Oil from the Deepwater Horizon disaster spread well beyond the spill footprint established by satellites, according to new analysis by scientists at the University of Miami.

To determine the true size of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, researchers supplied oil-transport models with water sampling results and remote sensing data. The simulations confirmed that a portion of the oil spilled in the wake of the deadly explosion remained invisible to satellites, but proved toxic to marine wildlife.

"We found that there was a substantial fraction of oil invisible to satellites and aerial imaging," Igal Berenshtein, lead author of the new study and a postdoctoral researcher at Miami's Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, said in a news release. "The spill was only visible to satellites above a certain oil concentration at the surface leaving a portion unaccounted for."

Over the course of three months in the spring of 2010, following the late-April explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, some 210 million gallons of crude oil spewed into the Gulf of Mexico. It was the biggest oil spill in U.S. history.

RELATED Report reveals elevated benzene levels at 10 U.S. oil refineries

In the wake of the spill, scientists used satellite images to measure the size of the oil slick created by the disaster. The spilled oil created an oil slick covering 57,000 square miles.

But the latest research, published Wednesday in the journal Science Advances, suggests the spill's true footprint was significantly larger.

According to the new models, the oil and its toxins reached the shores of Texas, the West Florida shelf and the Florida Keys. Oil was even carried by the Gulf Stream to the East Florida shelf.

RELATED Colossal oysters missing from parts of Florida's coastline

"Our results change established perceptions about the consequences of oil spills by showing that toxic and invisible oil can extend beyond the satellite footprint at potentially lethal and sub-lethal concentrations to a wide range of wildlife in the Gulf of Mexico," said senior study author Claire Paris, professor of ocean sciences at the Rosenstiel School.

"This work added a third dimension to what was previously seen as just surface slicks," Paris said. "This additional dimension has been visualized with more realistic and accurate oil spill models developed with a team of chemical engineers and more efficient computing resources."

Previous studies of the spill suggest as much as half of the oil spewed during the disaster may have ended up on the floor of the Gulf. One study showed an oil dispersant used during the cleanup, called concoction, actually prevents microbes from naturally breaking down the oil.

Massachusetts gas company to pay $53M fine for deadly 2018 blasts

An 18-year-old was killed while sitting in a car in the driveway 

of a home in Lawrence, Mass., on September 13, 2018. 

File Photo by CJ Gunter/EPA-EFE

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts gas company responsible for a series of explosions that killed one person in 2018 has agreed to pay a $53 million criminal fine, federal prosecutors announced Wednesday.

As part of the settlement, Columbia Gas of Massachusetts pleaded guilty to violating the national Pipeline Safety Act for failing to prevent the over-pressurization of its gas system.

The explosions in September 2018 destroyed 80 structures and also injured at least 25 people in the towns of Andover, Lawrence and North Andover.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts said the fine represents twice Columbia Gas' profits between 2015 and 2018 from a pipeline infrastructure program. In addition to the fine, the company will be subject to monitoring for three years to ensure its compliance with state and federal regulations.

Federal prosecutors also entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with Columbia Gas' parent company, NiSource, which agreed to "undertake their best reasonable efforts" to sell the gas company. Once sold, both Columbia Gas and NiSource will agree to stop all gas pipeline operations in Massachusetts.

NiSource also agreed to forfeit any profit from the sale of Columbia Gas.

In May, Columbia Gas reached an $80 million settlement with the communities of the blast, agreeing to pay 50 percent of the total to Lawrence, 30 percent to Andover and 20 percent to North Andover.

The funds were expected to go toward repairing roads and sidewalks damaged by the blasts, and other losses and expenses incurred by the towns. Workers dug up some 50 miles of roadways to repair gas lines in the region.

Lawmakers criticize Pentagon plan to divert defense funds for border wall

Defense Secretary Mark Esper arrives to testify on the Defense Department's fiscal 2021 budget request Wednesday. Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI | License Photo

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Members of Congress from both parties cautioned Pentagon leaders Wednesday against diverting money designated for the defense budget to construct more sections of a wall along the southern border of the United States.

During a House Armed Services Committee hearing on the Department of Defense budget for fiscal year 2021, Republicans and Democrats both expressed concern that the Pentagon would dip into funds earmarked for projects like counter-drug operations and military construction projects.

Earlier this month the Pentagon submitted a reprogramming request to divert $3.8 billion -- $2.02 billion from fiscal 2020 funds and $1.6 billion in fiscal 2020 overseas contingency operations -- to fund sections of the border wall.

The Pentagon legally has the power to reprogram up to $6 billion per year at its discretion. Last year it pulled $1 billion from excess Army personnel funds.

"This year is very different," said Rep. Mac Thornberry, R-Texas, the committee's ranking member. 

"This is not taking excess funds, this is substituting the judgment of the department -- and actually the administration. I think, my opinion is, this is not totally at the discretion of the secretary. It is substituting the judgment of the administration for the judgment of Congress. I am deeply concerned about where we're headed with the constitutional issue."

Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., blasted the reprogramming request when it was first made public Feb. 13, and was heavily critical at Wednesday's hearing.

"This is an enormous problem. The message it sends is that the Pentagon has plenty of money. It undercuts the congressional process. This basically says that Congress doesn't spend the money, the president does," Smith said.

Rep. Trent Kelly, R-Miss., said he was supportive of President Donald Trump's policy on the border, but "we have to be careful about how we re-program."

"I think we risk a whole lot with the $3.8 billion reprogramming to fund a border wall without consulting with Congress," he said.

The Democratic-led House of Representatives has repeatedly declined to fund efforts to construct more sections of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, prompting the president to seek money from the Pentagon.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper defended the move Wednesday, telling lawmkers, "The president has decided there's a national emergency on the border," likening the shift in priorities to a natural disaster response.

Esper also said the $705.4 billion fiscal 2021 budget -- which is 0.1 percent higher than that for fiscal 2020 -- is not sufficient for keeping up with inflation.

"Given this flattened funding level, we made many tough decisions to ensure our highest priorities were adequately funded," Esper said.

80-year-old man dies in North Dakota grain bin accident
LACK OF HEALTH AND SAFETY RULES ON THE FARM


An 80 year old North Dakota man died in what is at least the sixth fatal grain bin accident of the year. Photo courtesy of Pixabay

EVANSVILLE, Ind., Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Authorities have identified an 80-year-old man who died this week in a North Dakota grain bin.

Richard Volk was working atop a bin of wheat on his family farm near Devils Lake, N.D., on Wednesday afternoon when officials believe he fell in. It is unclear exactly what happened.

"It's the simple fact that nobody saw what happened," said deputy Ben Myrum of the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office, which responded to the call.

When other farmworkers realized they could not find Volk, the called for help, Myrum said.

The Devil's Lake Rural Fire Department eventually removed Volk's body from the silo after cutting holes in the sides to remove the grain.

Volk is at least the sixth farmer to die in a grain bin accident in the United States this year.

Dozens of farmers die in grain bins every year. The accidents happen most often at farms with few employees, which are not required to follow the same Occupational Safety and Health Administration safety regulations as larger commercial facilities.

Facial recognition firm's entire client list exposed in data breach
Feb. 26 (UPI) -- Clearview AI, a New York-based facial-recognition software company, said Wednesday that its entire database was exposed in a data breach.

The company sent a notification to its customers saying that an intruder gained unauthorized access to its list of customers, the number of user accounts those customers had set up and how many searches they conducted.

Clearview added that the company's servers were not breached and that there was no compromise of its systems or network.

The company said it fixed the vulnerability and the intruder didn't obtain search histories of law enforcement agencies that use the service.

Tor Ekeland, an attorney for Clearview, said that security is the company's top priority.

"Unfortunately, data breaches are part of life in the 21st century. Our servers were never accessed. We patched the flaw and continue to work to strengthen our security," Ekeland said.

Clearview's client base is mostly made up of law enforcement agencies including police departments in Toronto, Atlanta and Florida.

It has a database of 3 billion photos it collected from websites including YouTube, Facebook, Venmo and LinkedIn.

Sen. Ed Markey, D-My said the company poses "chilling privacy risks" condemned the company'sass., who has previousl inability to prevent the breach.

"Clearview's statement that security is its 'top priority' would be laughable if the company's failure to safeguard its information wasn't so disturbing and threatening to the public's privacy," Markey said. "This is a company whose entire business model relies on collecting incredibly sensitive and personal information and this breach is yet another sign that the potential benefits of Clearview's technology do not outweigh the grave privacy risks it poses."

24 states consider bills to ban natural hair discrimination
(WILL ALSO STOP WHITE PEOPLE CUTTING NATIVE YOUTHS BRAIDS OR PONY TAILS)


Three states have passed laws protecting natural hairstyles, and 24 more state legislatures are considering such bills. Photo courtesy of Erik Jacobs/Wikimedia Commons

EVANSVILLE, Ind., Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Nearly half of state legislatures will consider bills in the near future to protect a person's right to wear hair naturally.

The bills -- introduced in 24 states -- are modeled after a California law put into effect Jan. 1 that bans discrimination based on hairstyle.

Proponents say employers, and even schools districts, often ban hairstyles historically worn by racial minorities -- like braids, dreadlocks and twists.

"Our hairstyles influence the way employers and teachers treat us," said Courtney McKinney, a spokeswoman for the Western Center on Law and Poverty, which advocated for the California law along with several other organizations.

"It can impact your education and your ability to get a job. That's why we need laws to protect our right to wear our hair the way it grows out of our heads," McKinney said.

Hair discrimination against black people has a long history in the United States.

Before the Civil War, enslaved people from Africa, for whom long hair was culturally important, were forced to shave their heads, said Wisconsin state Rep. LaKeshia Myers, a Democrat who introduced legislation to protect natural hairstyles.

After the Civil War, newly freed black women began to straighten their hair to wear it in styles popular among white women of the time. That tradition continues to this day, Myers said. Across the country, black women use chemicals and heat to "relax" and straighten their hair to blend in at schools and workplaces.

"It's all for African Americans to fit into the workplace," Myers said. "Today, an African American trying to get a job is faced with the dilemma of do I straighten my hair for the interview to get the job? Why is my natural hair not considered professional?"

Black men are not immune, Myers said. In December 2018 in New Jersey, a black high school wrestler was forced by a referee to cut his dreadlocks to compete. This year, a school district in Texas attempted to expel a black student who refused to cut his dreadlocks.

"No child should be stopped from learning because of their hair," said Jade Magnus Ogunnaike, the campaign director for Color of Change, an online racial justice organization.

The push to pass such legislation is being spearheaded by a group called the CROWN Coalition, which stands for Creating a Respectful and Open Workplace for Natural hair.

Color of Change is a CROWN Coalition founding member, Ogunnaike said. Other founders are are Dove, the Western Center on Law & Poverty and the National Urban League.

The coalition, which formed about two years ago, chose to begin in California.

"What happens in California can easily spread across the country," said Leah Barros, a lobbyist hired by the CROWN Coalition to advocate for the bill's passage in California. "It was passed in California with zero 'no' votes and bipartisan support. That was really important to set the foundation for this law to spread to other state legislatures."

Since then, New York and New Jersey have passed similar laws. The coalition continues to push for action in other states and in Congress.

"Hopefully, we will soon have federal legislation," Ogunnaike said.

The coalition is working with several federal lawmakers, including U.S. Rep. Cedric Richmond, D-La., and U.S. Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., who unveiled in December a bill to ban discrimination based on hair textures and hairstyles commonly associated with people of a particular race or national origin.

South Koreans sue Shincheonji for embezzlement, violation of law


A South Korean group is suing the religious sect Shincheonji 

for disclosing false data to the government. 

File Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo



Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A South Korean civic group is suing Shincheonji, the secretive religious group in the country that is being widely blamed for the massive outbreak of the new strain of coronavirus.

The National Shincheonji Victims Coalition said Thursday outside the Supreme Prosecutors' Office in Seoul they are filing a lawsuit against Lee Man-hee, 88, the founder of the Shincheonji Church of Jesus, on charges of embezzlement and for his violation of South Korea's Infectious Disease Control and Prevention Act, Yonhap reported.

The case, which is to be assigned to the prosecutors' office in the city of Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, comes at a time when local critics of the church, sometimes referred to as a cult, is being held responsible for about half of all COVID-19 cases in Korea, where 1,766 cases and 13 deaths have been reported.

According to the South Korean victims coalition, Shincheonji reported lower-than-actual numbers, when the government requested a complete list of members after hundreds of people were infected in the city of Daegu.

Congregants have said they were not allowed to keep their masks on during services.

South Korean plaintiffs say the church's disclosure of a list of about 210,000 members is incomplete. Citing "Doomsday Office," a YouTube channel, the coalition said Shincheonji has 239,353 members and another 70,000 people waiting for admission into the church.

Shincheonji has 12 branches in South Korea that symbolize "12 tribes." Each group is named after a disciple of Jesus, according to South Korean press reports.

On Thursday the coalition said Lee had embezzled $8.25 million of real estate from Kim Nam-hee, a former church member and chairwoman of Mannam Volunteer Association. The coalition claimed Kim was Lee's former mistress.

Speculation is rising among South Korean government officials the church is not disclosing its full list of members. Lee Jae-myung, governor of Gyeonggi Province, said the list is short of 2,000 people, according to government estimates, Maeil Business reported Thursday.